Growth of a Seed
by animefan29
Summary: Gundam/Star Wars. A rebel ship pursued by Imperials stumbles a world of giant mecha and genetically enhanced humans known as Coordinators. How will this affect the war for the galaxy. Timeline: 6 months after 2nd Bloody Valentine, 6 months before New Hope
1. Chapter 1

**Growth of a Seed**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars.

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1**

**Planet: Earth, System: Sol**

In the vastness of space, at the far edge of an area designated as Lagrange point 5 by the denizens of a small blue planet that was the third closest to its primary, two ships drew closer to each other. One _Nazca_-class destroyer, the _Voltaire_, was bearing down on the civilian freighter _Blue Lagoon_. The _Blue Lagoon_ was in an area of space that was far outside the designated routes within the L5 area for civilian ships. However despite appearances the _Blue Lagoon_ was not an ordinary freighter, which is why the flagship of the Joule Team was here investigating it.

Opening up its hanger doors the _Voltaire_ launched from its mobile suit catapult one Slash ZAKU Warrior, two GuAIZ R, one Gunner ZAKU Warrior, one black Blaze ZAKU Phantom, and one white GOUF Ignited. Over an open channel the Commander of the task force and pilot of the GOUF, Yzak Joule, issued a warning to the crew of the _Blue Lagoon_, stating that they were in a restricted area, that they were to cease all propulsion, and to be prepared to be boarded and all crew and cargo inspected. _Blue Lagoon's_ response was to blow its hangers from which 10 Strike Dagger mobile suits flew from.

While surprising this action was not entirely unexpected. ZAFT intelligence had warned the crew of the _Voltaire_ that the freighter was a carrier ship for one of the numerous terrorist groups formed after the death of Djibril and Earth's and the PLANTs' efforts to eradicate Logos.

The first of the ZAFT mobile suits to attack was the Gunner ZAKU Warrior, its powerful Orthros cannon having the greatest range of the present mobile suits, scattering the Strike Daggers into three smaller groups with a single of blast.

Yzak boosted his GOUF forward towards a group of 3 Strike Daggers, unleashing a torrent of energy beams from his Draupnir upon the mobile suits, destroying one as the other two scattered. Targeting the mobile suit on the right Yzak drew his Tempest beam sword. The Strike Dagger blocked the first strike with its own beam saber, only to be kicked away and perforated with beam shots.

The pilot of the third Strike Dagger tried to shoot Yzak's GOUF in the back. Yzak dodged and flew at the mobile suit, lashing out with his Slayer Whip heat rod, wrapping it around the beam rifle. Yzak sent an electrical shock through the whip, destroying the rifle and stabbed the Strike Dagger's head with his beam sword. A few more well placed cuts and the mobile suit was out of commission without killing the pilot. It would be good to have at least one terrorist to interrogate.

A quick check of his sensors told Yzak that the rest of the team had finished with their opponents. "_Damage report people. Dearka?_"

"_No damage, just need to restock on the supply of missiles for my Blaze pack._" Reported Yzak's long standing teammate and friend.

"_Zeke?_"

"_Nothing a bit of paint won't fix Commander._" Responded Ezekiel, pilot of the Gunner ZAKU.

"_Morgan?_"

"_Hah, as if a bunch Naturals in outdated machines could touch me!_"

"_Don't get cocky Morgan; all it takes is one stay shot from even the oldest Moebius to shoot down even the most advanced mobile suit._" Chided Yzak."_Teresa, how are you?_"

"_Lost a railgun sir. The explosion messed with my suit's systems and the legs' movement calibration is off._"

"_Ask the mechanics to replace the railgun and work on the legs once we get back to the _Voltaire_. Just because we're no longer at war there's no excuse for not keeping your machine combat ready. How about you Liz, what's your status?_"

"_One hundred percent operational Commander._" Reported the stoic voice of Elizabeth who piloted the Slash ZAKU.

"_Are there any survivors amongst your engaged mobile suits?_" The following report told Yzak that, including the suit he disabled, there were three surviving terrorists. Yzak then ordered for two of his pilots to grab the other two survivors' suits as he grabbed the one he disabled and return to the _Voltaire_.

* * *

**Planet: Ord Mantell, System: Bright Jewel system, Sector: Bright Jewel Cluster, Region: Mid Rim Territories bordering Wild Space**

The ship jolted as a turbo laser shot struck against the shields. The _Tantive IV_ was not a war vessel, nor was it even designed to do any real fighting, and wouldn't be able to take much more of the abuse.

"We need to get out of here!" Shouted the resident VIP Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, currently the youngest member of the imperial senate and high ranking official in the Alliance to restore the Republic, or as it's more commonly known the Rebel Alliance. Both of which are positions she had only recently obtained.

"The hyperdrive coordinates haven't been calculated yet. We need a bit more time." Responded Captain Antilles as he checked on the bridge crew's progress.

"Captain, there is undisputable evidence to our connection to the Alliance aboard this ship! We can't allow it or a single member of the crew to fall into the hands of the Empire! Just make a blind jump!" Ordered the princess.

"Princess! Are you insane!?" Shouted the metallic and artificial voice of Antilles golden droid C-3PO. "We're on the edge of Wild Space and our current course has us heading deeper into it, straight towards the Unknown Region! Do you know the odds of surviving such a blind jump!?"

"Better then the odds of surviving when those Imperials on our tail catch us!"

Antilles grumbled as he weighed his options. It was supposed to be a very simple mission. Using her position in the senate as a cover the princess was to go to the world of Ord Mantell on the edge of the Empire. Despite it technically being labeled as a part of the Mid Rim Ord Mantell might as well have been in the Outer Rim. The planet itself had little in the way of valuable resources, and wasn't near a major hyperspace lane, but it was home to numerous species of sentient beings who had formed several factions that were known to be having difficulties with the current galactic government. That and it has a significant connection to the galactic underworld. Once on the planet Princess Leia would begin secret negotiations with each faction in an attempt to get them to aid the Alliance. Aid that they sorely needed.

However it seems that someone on Ord Mantell had less trouble with the Empire then they believed. As their ship was heading out into space to go back home, an Imperial patrol cruiser appeared. But not just any run-of-the-mill cruiser, no it was a _Victory_-class Star Destroyer. Sure a _Victory_ isn't as big or dangerous as an _Imperial_-class but it was still more than enough to rip a Corellian Corvette like the _Tantive IV_ apart in minutes.

And to make matters worse the ship appeared right in the path of their previous exit route back to the Core. With the Star Destroyer ahead and the planet behind, their only option was to take a new course that pointed them towards Wild Space with the Unknown Regions just beyond.

They didn't have enough time to calculate a new jump before the Star Destroyer would be able to snag them with its tractor beams, but to fly blind in such an unexplored area of the galaxy had an incredibly high risk of running into unexpected gravity shadows which more often than not led to the damaging if not destruction of a space craft. Antilles was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

His internal debate was cut short by several beeps and whistles by his small blue and white astromech R2-D2.

"Sir, Artoo states that he has already calculated an emergency escape route. He only needs to upload it into the nav-computer." Translated the golden Threepio.

The old captain couldn't quiet hold back a small smile for the reliable little droid. Despite being only a simple astromech, in the 19 years he had owned the droid Antilles had come to notice that Artoo seemed to have an almost supernatural ability for having just the thing needed to get out of such an impossible situation. But then again given the droid's past and its former owner you really couldn't expect anything less from it.

"Do it." He ordered, the astromech rolling up to a console and jacking into the system. "Helm on my mark, jump to hyperspace." He waited until Artoo beeped in confirmation, "Mark!"

The stars elongated before coalescing into a wall of white. Antilles sighed as relief from the safety of hyperspace washed over him.

"Well your highness, it looks like we got away."

"Yes, but depending on who sold us out to the Empire, then we may have merely delayed the hunt. Where exactly are we going anyway?"

Antilles differed to his astromech who responded with the beeps and whistles of the droid language, a language no one on the ship could understand except for the one other droid. And that droid seemed to be in a very unbelieving mood towards his counterpart.

"Your coordinates are taking us where? Artoo you must be malfunctioning. I am programmed with the customs of 6 million species of as many cultures, have downloaded the names of every planet and system in the ship's databanks, and I have never heard of such a place." The response was a series of rather angry beeps and whistles. "Alright I'll tell them, but don't blame me if they decide to replace you." The protocol droid replied indignantly. "It seems that my counterpart has programmed a course for the planet Ilum in a system of the same name."

Captain Antilles frowned at the unknown name. "If Ilum isn't in the _Tantive's_ computers than how does Artoo know of it?"

Atroo's translated answer was, "Apparently one of Artoo's non-factory standard upgrades is a memory modification that permanently records the name and location of any planet he has ever plotted a course to onto his long-term memory banks. I assume that since my counterpart has never has such an upgrade or plotted a course to Ilum while in your service Master Antilles that it was done while Artoo was in the service of a previous master."

Due to the need to keep aspects of Artoo's and Threepio's past a secret Antilles didn't voice that he knew probably which master had the modification done and why. Instead he simply said, "Well let's just hope there aren't any nasty surprises waiting for us when we get there."

The hyperdrive trip was a rather long and uneventful one. Artoo had somehow managed to plot a direct course to Ilum with no need to stop in another system. Although considering that a considerable portion of the trip would be through the uncharted stars of the Unknown Regions most of the crew felt that this was not a good thing.

Currently Antilles was sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge. Ilum was an unknown world to both the crew and himself with only one astromech droid on the entire ship having been there previously and it couldn't remember why. So the captain was taking the opportunity to prepare his crew and his ship, as much as possible in hyperspace, for the upcoming reversion to real space. However that window of opportunity was about to be cut short.

Klaxons wailed in warning as the ship's sensors detected something wrong. Antilles never even got a chance ask what was going on but he had a feeling, and that feeling was proven right only a second after the alarms started the _Tantive IV_ reverted to real space.

The current overall situation was obvious to Antilles, as it would to anyone who had even the slightest understanding of hyperdrive travel. The klaxons had been for a rarely used early warning system that indicated when the ship came across an unexpected gravitational field it is usually and hopefully a rouge planet or one of the Empire's Interdictor Cruisers. However here in the Unknown Regions stars, black holes, and other anomalous gravity wells were added to the list and were considered more likely for a ship to come across, but the fact that the ship was intact scratched that latter options off the list. Now to learn which of the remaining three lead to them to drop out of hyperspace. "Helm, status report."

The helmsman, a tall blue-green skinned Duros, reported that the _Tantive IV_ had been pulled out of hyperspace by the gravitational field of a terrestrial planet orbiting a medium-mass orange yellow star. "Also, according to the sensors the planet is both inhabited and that there is a substantial number of energy patterns in orbit consistent with a starship's thrusters and considerable radio wave communication. Seems we've stumbled upon an unknown space-faring race." A trace of excitement could be detected in his voice indicating the species' trademark love of adventure.

At this time Princess Leia walked onto the bridge, curious about the unexpected stop. "Captain Antilles, is there anything wrong?"

"No Princess, but things seem to have gotten interesting. According to our computers we've just stumbled across a space faring race in an unexplored region of space."

This bit of information captured Leia's interest. This could be the break the Alliance needs. A planet in an unknown location and a technologically advanced people would be a great asset to have in the fight against the Empire. But then, if these people have had no contact with the Empire what reason would they have to ally with an illegal rebel movement that had little to offer unless they succeed in toppling a tyrannical galaxy wide government. Of course there was also the possibility that the Empire was already aware of this planet and in control of it. Keeping such a secret from the Senate was just the sort of thing Palpatine would do. And even if no one in the known galaxy knew about this world, how long would it be before the Empire stumbled upon it in its drive to increase their hold on the Galaxy?

Apparently not long as indicated by the blaring alarms announcing the arrival of the _Victory_ Star Destroyer that had ambushed them at Ord Mantell. Antilles didn't even need to say ask how it had found them so quickly when the communications officer spoke up.

"Sithspit! I can't believe I missed this! Sir, someone planted a virus in the computer. It's in the communication systems. It must have sent a burst transmission in the chaos earlier that gave the Imperials our hypderdrive coordinates and they followed us here. It just sent another one which is the only reason I caught it now."

"Did the virus send messages to any other Imperial ships?"

"Can't tell, the only way we'll know is if more show up."

* * *

**Star Destroyer **_**Mangle**_

Captain Darkel of the _Mangle_ grinned maliciously as he watched the smaller ship try to flee, one of its duel turbolasers firing upon his own vessel's shields. It was a futile show of resistance from the small minimally armed corvette against the power of his warship. That just made it all the more entertaining. This just brightened his already good mood.

He had been most fortuitous when his communication officer managed to intercept a transmission sent out by an opportunistic bureaucratic aid, claiming that there would be an important diplomatic envoy from the Rebel Alliance on Ord Mantell. After that it was simply a matter of finding the aid, extracting the information, then finding a dockworker who would gladly slip a rather clever virus onto the rebel's ship and the trap would be set, while coincidently 'forgetting' to inform the admiral in charge of the sector about the little operation he had planned.

Everything had worked perfectly, although he had been a bit surprised that the rebels had been brave enough to jump into the Unknown Region he still followed, and because of that choice he now had another jewel to present the Empire.

He could already taste his promotion. Why he might even promoted all the way to admiral and placed in charge of the soon to be newly acquired Imperial territory, maybe even Governor.

"Sir, the rebel vessel has opened fire upon us and is attempting to run." Informed one of the sensor officers.

"Return fire, but aim for their engines and capture them once they are within range of the tractor beams. I want the ship and crew mostly intact when I present them to the Emperor."

"Captain another ship, one I assume is native to the system, is approaching. From the looks of its profile it has numerous weapons emplacements. Computer analysis suggests that it is a warship, either a small frigate or a large gunship."

"It is any threat?"

"Doubtful. Readings indicate no shields and that the _Mangle_ can both outgun and outrun it."

"Ignore it. Focus on the rebel ship, and if the new one interferes eliminate it."

* * *

_**Nazca**_**-class **_**Voltaire**_**, several minutes earlier.**

Aboard the _Voltaire_ Commander Joule was going over the current plan with the ship's captain.

"We'll rendezvous with the rest of the task force at these coordinates. After that we head back to headquarters to drop off our prisoners at a holding facility. Then we'll return to our patrol schedule while-"

"Sir! Unknown contact has appeared 1500 to port!" Shouted the crewman on sensor duty to the captain.

"What? But there's nothing out there. What kind of contact is it? Mobile suit or a ship?" Asked the captain.

"Ship sir, but the thermal scanners can't match it to anything in the computers. I got a profile on laser imagining but I don't recognize it nor does it match anything in the computer."

The captain gave Yzak a questioning glance that perfectly conveyed his thoughts. Should we investigate this unknown or continue on to the rendezvous? But before Commander Joule could make his decision the sensor officer spoke up again.

"Another contact has appeared behind the first! And it's huge! Almost as big as the _Gondwana_! And its opened fire on the smaller contact!"

Now Yzak knew what he wanted to do. "Captain, send a transmission out to the other ships of the taskforce and give them new coordinates for our new rendezvous. And get all pilots to their machines; we're going to see what's going on over there." With that he left the bridge for the hanger, leaving the captain to carry out his orders.

* * *

Things were looking bad for the members of the Rebel Alliance aboard the upgraded CR70. One of their few saving graces was that the Star Destroyer was _Victory I_ model, so it lacked ion cannons, forcing them to use precision turbolaser shots that the rebels did their best to evade, but they couldn't evade them forever and if the captain of the Star destroyer ever decided that he would rather destroy them instead of capturing them then they would be annihilated in a minute. Their other saving grace was the fact that the _Victory I_ model's engines were designed for chasing down ships so its acceleration was slower.

But those advantages were taken away as one lucky shot finally struck home and damaged the _Tantive's_ engine nacelles, its acceleration rate drastically dropping. Then the crew and passengers felt a jerk as the Star Destroyer's tractor beams locked onto them. The _Tantive_ continued to fight but it was futile.

Then suddenly a pair of green energy beam cut a path between the rebel and Imperial ships. There was a lull in the fighting as the blue ship native to the system drew closer. Then a pair of large hanger doors opened and one at a time out shot several, well the only word that they knew that could really describe the machines would be droid. They were large, larger then a starfighter at any rate, and were humanoid in shape, if somewhat round and bulbous and with a single 'eye' in the center of their heads.

Three distinct models could be distinguished, but each unit was different in its own way. Then a general transmission was picked up over the radios.

"_This is Commander Yzak Joule of ZAFT. Cease all hostilities, identify yourselves, and prepare to be boarded for inspection. If you do not comply with these orders we will consider you an enemy of ZAFT and act accordingly._"

Aboard the _Mangle_ Captain Darkel stared at the image on the screen, a scowl upon his face. "What impudence. Launch all fighters. I'll let them deal with those insects as we get back to the real prize." The scowl then reversed itself into a smirk. "But first, it would be rude not introduce myself to my future subjects."

* * *

Yzak waited in the cockpit of his GOUF Ignited for the two ships' response. He didn't have to wait long.

"_ZAFT personal, you are interfering with an Imperial naval operation to capture traitors and dissidents. You __**will**__ disarm and surrender yourself to the Galactic Empire or you __**will**__ be the first people of this planet destroyed for the glory of the Empire._"

'_Galactic Empire? What the heck is he talking about?_' Thought Yzak for a moment but he didn't have time to wonder about it for long. As the speech ended Yzak noted 24 machines drop out of the open ventral hanger of the larger triangular ship.

The machines were very unusual and more than a little awkward looking. The main body was spherical with a circular glass viewport with an octagonal design, giving the impression of an eye staring at you. From the sides sprouted two pylons on which were some type of panel, the purpose of which escaped Yzak. They were small and it didn't look like they had any weapons but they could have some new weapons technology that he had never seen before.

But that only described 18 of the machines. The other six were similar but their design seemed a little more conventional. Their main bodies are comprised of two cylinders with curved side panels.

"_Heads up people, we have incoming hostile units. Mobile armors, unknown models. Teresa, your suit isn't back to full combat capabilities, hang back and cover the _Voltaire_. Zeke, when we make contact break through and go after that big ship. The rest of us will deal with those mobile armors._"

A series of affirmatives responded before Teresa backed off to hover around the _Voltaire_.

The two groups of machines charged each other and faster than Yzak would have thought the spheroids unleashed a volley of beam energy. The ZAFT mobile suits caught all the energy on their raised shields. When Yzak lowered his shield he barely had time to move out of the way of a barreling machine that was barely a blur as it passed. "_Damn, these bastards are fast!_" He exclaimed. Using the AMBAC to make a 180 degree turn Yzak gave chase to the machine, his GOUF Ignited easily being outpaced. Then the eyeball began to make a large turn and Yzak grinned as memories of the First Bloody Valentine War came to the front of his mind. "_But it still moves like a mobile armor!_" He shouted, tracking the machine and shooting it down.

* * *

_**Tantive IV**_

Leia watched as the new ship interfered, launched several machines that looked like droids, and a spokesperson that sounded like an officer of a military, or at least an armed organization, ordered the fighting to stop on behalf of that organization. The diplomat in her filed that information away for later. If there was a later that is.

"Those droids look are kind of slow." Antilles bleakly observed as Imperial fighters left the Star Destroyer's hanger. "Judging from relative position and assuming they are going full speed then I'd say that our Y-wings could outrun them. Not to mention that their outnumbered four to one. Those TIEs will tear right through them."

But the captain's prediction did not come to pass. Despite lacking energy shields the machines managed to block a number of shots from the opening salvo on their metal shields. What was more impressive was how the machines actually dodged the majority, often by no more than a few centimeters.

That's when the real fight began. As one of the TIEs passed the lead white machine it made an impossible 180 degree turn and shot the fighter in the back. Similar moves from the other machines had caught more of the TIEs off guard and evened out the battle to a three on one fight.

"Those droids are incredible." Breathed one of the bridge crew.

"I don't think those are droids." Said the sensor officer. "It's difficult to tell but it looks like there are life forms in those machines."

Antilles frowned. "Explain, why is it difficult?"

"Some sort of interference that started a few minutes ago. I can't get a good sensor reading on anything beyond a few thousand meters. Probably some technology native to this system."

* * *

After the initial assault Zeke had managed to break away from the main group and flew towards the large triangular ship. Several kilometers out the ship opened fire, launching volleys of green energy. Its rate of fire impressing Zeke, but only because of the number of cannons it wielded. Their individual rate of fire was slow enough that the Gunner ZAKU danced out of the path of each shot.

Seeing and opening Zeke flew within twenty meters of the ship's hull, inside the cannons effective range. Unfolding his Orthos cannon he pointed straight down and fired, only to watch as the blast from the high energy cannon dissipate just above the hull. "_What the?_" Firing several more shots he saw the same thing each time. "_Damn it. Commander, the ship has some kind of beam shield strong enough to stop the Orthos._"

"_Then help us take out these mobile armors. They're a lot faster and more difficult than the EA's old Moebius._"

Speak of the devil; two of them were coming in to take out Zeke.

Refolding the Orthos, Zeke took out his beam rifle, firing upon the mobile armors. The mobile armors split up, one going right, the other left.

The armor pilots were learning. These two were trying to utilize their speed advantage and numbers to confuse Zeke.

Zeke tracked the left armor, rifle firing ahead of the machine's flight path. One shot struck true and hit the machine's side panel, destroying it and sending the armor on an erratic flight path. But Zeke didn't have time. He turned his ZAKU to face the other machine only for his leg to be blown off in a hail of energy fire. Growling in annoyance Zeke chucked his rifle at the machine, which promptly dodged only to be met with the business end of a beam tomahawk.

The beam weapon sliced through one of the panel holding pylons, sending the armor spiraling out of control before it crashed into the large ship where it exploded spectacularly.

Zeke allowed himself to a moment to survey his handy work but paused for a moment as he noted the metal of the ship was blackened and slightly damaged. Unfolding the cannon he fired another shot only for it to dissipate once again against the shield.

"_Hey _Voltaire_, Dearka, and anyone else that's free I could use your help here._"

* * *

Teresa held her GuAIZ in position above the _Voltaire_. The leg damage from the previous battle had been fixed, but it still lacked a new railgun. She watched as the double-hulled armors approached, their number reduced by one during the initial attack.

Before they into effective range of her beam rifle each ship fired a pair of missiles for a total of ten. Teresa immediately targeted the small fast moving weapons and opened fire with both of her weapons while the _Voltaire_ opened fire with its CIWS, beam cannons, linear cannons, and missiles.

Teresa managed to intercept three missiles while the _Voltaire_ got the rest, by this time the enemy machines were within weapon's range.

The _Voltaire_ launched its Parsifals; the heavy missiles locking onto the group of slow(er) moving armors, destroying two of them.

Teresa launched her GuAIZ forward towards one of the remaining machines. It attacked by firing two more missiles that were intercepted. The two machines charged each other space version of chicken. At the last moment Teresa went up, her beam saber igniting, slashing through the center of the enemy machine.

Turning back she saw the last two machines buzzing about the _Voltaire_, barely being held off by the CIWS guns. Teresa flew back, moving in behind one of the machines and firing upon it. The machine's pilot tried a hard left in order to shake her but the GuAIZ's arms easily tracked it just before Teresa took it down.

Looking for the other machine Teresa was just in time to see it fly in front of the _Voltaire's_ beamcannons just as the weapons fired, vaporizing the machine.

'_That takes care of them, are there any more?_' Checking her sensors she found most of the other enemy machines were currently occupied with her teammates.

"_Hey _Voltaire_, Dearka, and anyone else that's free I could use your help here._" Called Ezekiel over the radio.

* * *

**Star Destroyer **_**Mangle**_

Things were not looking for Captain Darkel. What should have been an easy capture of rebel officials had turned into a real mess because of the natives of this system. The TIEs he had sent out expecting them to demolish the unusual machines and destroy their carrier were instead wiped out to ninety percent of their number.

Now the enemy ship was moving to come around to attack the _Mangle's_ engines, a blind spot from the turbolasers and missile launchers. What was worse was those damnable machines were now buzzing around trying to get through the _Mangle's_ shields. Fortunately their weapons weren't strong enough to do anything unless they concentrated their fire, limiting the damage they could do. So if need be Darkel could order a retreat and the _Mangle_ could still make it to hyperspace. He'd only have to suffer the indignity of being the laughing stock of the Imperial Navy. But he wasn't beat yet, he could turn this around.

"_Attention ZAFT forces. The shield generators are the domes atop the command tower. The shields are strongest there but once destroyed the Star Destroyer will be defenseless._"

Darkel's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. "What was that!?"

"A message broadcast on all channels originating from the rebel ship."

"Three enemy units are now heading for the shield generators!"

"Turn the ship around! Get us back to Imperial space!"

The bridge trembled from reverberations as the shield generators exploded. The next thing the bridge crew of the _Mangle_ knew was the tremors caused by the explosions that ripped through the ship. Without the shields protecting them from the smaller machines that they couldn't hit, and from the warship attacking their engines in their blind spot. The tremors were so great that Darkel was thrown from his chair.

Climbing back up his face went pale as he looked out the main viewport. Directly outside looking in was one of the enemy machines. Its eye glowed menacingly as it twirled a large axe before plunking the glowing blade through the viewport, destroying the front half of the bridge. It pulled out the weapon and moved away allowing cold vacuum to finish its jobs as all surviving officers were pulled from their stations and blown out into space.

* * *

_**Tantive IV**_

Princess Leia made her choice to help the locals of the system fight the Imperials. Not that they needed much help, but she wanted to ensure that the Empire never discovered what was out here or about the _Tantive's_ rebel activity. She just hoped that the decision did not get her people killed.

The Star Destroyer had been brutalized. Its shield generator shredded by some type of melee weapons, the engines torn apart by the warship, and just about every turbolaser cannon and missile launcher blown apart.

The outcome was all but inevitable and was dependant on whether the Star Destroyer could run. And if they could do that to a fully operational Star Destroyer the _Tantive IV_ stood no chance of withstanding an assault. And the local's attention would be soon be upon the rebel ship.

As if summoned by her thoughts the white machine that lead the attack flew in front of the _Tantive_, stopping just before the bridge, a sword in its hand, ready to be used if needed.

Then on all channels, "_I thank you for the assistance. Now I'll ask again. Who are you?_"

Leia motioned Antilles to stay quiet as she nodded to the communications officer. "_I am Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. I am a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic also known as the Rebel Alliance. And I thank you for saving both myself and the people aboard my ship._"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES!!!: This fic is a challenge. My intent is not to start another story of my own but to try and inspire someone else to try writing a story, specifically a Gundam Seed/Star Wars crossover.**

**I don't care how they do it, in fact if anyone wants to they can use this chapter as a starting point. In fact I will just give this away to anyone that wants to try writing the story.**

**Chances are that if no one wants to continue this story then I won't either. I have too many as it is.**

**If someone wants to try writing this story, leave a review or PM me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Growth of a Seed**

**Disclaimer:**

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

**

* * *

Chapter two**

**Planet: Earth, System: Sol, Sector: Unregistered, Region: Unknown Regions**

Yzak sat in his GOUF which hovered before the unknown vessel. Well not entirely unknown. A 'Princess Leia Organa' had identified herself as the owner of the ship and with whom she was affiliated, but none of it had made any sense to him. He had never heard of an 'Alliance to restore the Republic' or of any republic that needed to be restored. Add in that large triangle ship and this 'Galactic Empire' that loud mouth guy spoke about and you had one baffled Coordinator.

Using the GOUF's mono-sensor he looked in through the ship's viewport to get a better look at who these people were. Sweeping left to right Yzak saw that there were only a few people within what he assumed was the ships bridge. There were some oddities such as the thing that looked like a golden robot, some small cylindrical machine next to the golden one, the… '_What the!?_' Sitting on the far right of the bridge in a forward facing control station was a tall, hairless, blue-skinned, red-eyed, nose-less… thing!

What Yzak was seeing was unreal. It couldn't be what he thought it was, yet there was no other possibility. Sitting there within that ship was a living breathing extraterrestrial. If that's what the thing truly was then that meant… "Voltaire_, prepare a shuttle and get a doctor ready for ship-to-ship transfer with a basic med-kit. I need him on the unknown vessel to run some tests. And prepare to send a high-priority message back to base. The Supreme Council will have to be informed of what happened here, and possibly of what the test results say._"

* * *

_**Tantive IV**_** Bridge**

The crew and passenger of the _Tantive IV_ waited with their breath held for the pilot of the white machine to respond to Leia's statement. It was clear that he was in charge, or at least high up the chain of command, and he would probably be the one in control of their imminent future. They watched as the pink eye of the machine swept over them, pausing for a second on Ceda Ban, The Duros helmsman.

"_This is Commander Joule, I don't know who you people are, where you came from, or what you're intentions are but I intend to find out. I'll be coming aboard your ship with a security detail and a doctor to run some tests as soon as my people are ready. I request that Princess Leia Organa, the ship's captain if they are separate people, and that blue… person to wait for our arrival, without weapons. Do you accept?_"

All eyes turned to the princess who was in charge of their mission. Considering their current situation and weighing the possible outcomes in an instant as she had been trained to do she made up her mind instantly. "I agree to your terms."

Instead of replying verbally Commander Joule's machine seemed to nod its head in affirmation before turning around and flying back to its ship, quickly replaced by the ax-wielding machine that had destroyed the Star Destroyer's bridge. Clearly it was there to make sure they didn't try anything funny.

"Are you sure that was wise Princess?" Asked Antilles.

"No I'm not," the princess admitted. "But we're hardly in a position to be negotiating with them." Then a bit more cheerfully she said, "However there were some good indicators in that last transmission that this will be a successful first contact. That Commander Joule could clearly see us through the viewport. If the way he responded to our appearance is any indication then it is likely that the natives of this system are human, it has been recorded many times throughout history of a previously unknown human culture suddenly being discovered. And he recognized that helmsman Ban is not human but he remained calm about it. That could be an indicator of this culture's society, or simply that somehow these people are already in contact with an alien species or that they are at least aware that life exists on other planets. That can only be helpful for us."

Princess Leia paused as she realized that everyone within the bridge, including the droids, was staring at her, some with mouths agape. Had it not been for her training in public speaking the young woman would have blushed. Instead she met their gaze and, somewhat defensively, said, "It was a requirement for my diplomatic training to take extensive course studies in xeno-psychology. Now I need to prepare for our guests, please inform me when they are about to arrive." With that she quickly turned around and walked out off the bridge to her private quarters.

Antilles looked to her departing form until the bridge doors closed and sealed before turning back to face the rest of the crew. "And that is why you don't get into politics. Flying and maintaining an interstellar starship is a lot less complicated."

_**Tantive IV**_** hanger deck, two hours later**

Leia waited nervously in the tiny shuttle hanger of the _Tantive IV_. Standing with her was Captain Antilles and Ceda Ban as requested but she had also brought C-3PO just in case they needed his skills. The shuttle hanger they waited in wasn't much and was more often reserved for the use of land speeders. But it did have a mag-field so it could keep the atmosphere contained and allow a shuttle to enter.

The shuttle that she was waiting for was coming from the ship she now knew was named the _Voltaire_ aboard which would be the commander of the force which defeated the Star Destroyer.

Because they knew so little about each other it might seem a bit risky for the commander to come himself but the man had made it clear in no uncertain terms that even if he was aboard the _Tantive_ should they try anything funny the _Voltaire_ would sink them. A threat made deadlier by the two new ships that had arrived recently arrived, adding their own droid-like machines to the task of watching over the wounded Star Destroyer and the _Tantive_, granting the _Voltaire's_ crew a rest.

Not that the _Tantive IV_ could do much anyway. With its engines so damaged a large number of power intensive systems such as propulsion, hyperdrive, shields, and turbolasers were now offline. And the rebels lacked the means to repair such damage. So they would have to rely on the locals if they wanted to ever leave the system.

Eventually the shuttle was within sight and Leia watched it approach. It was small and blocky, and by her standards did not look like it was made to transport people comfortably over long distances. The shuttle approached slowly, using bursts from small verniers to continually adjust its path. The two vessels did not have a compatible beacon system so the pilot had to eyeball it, surprisingly well actually.

Then the shuttle did something strange, or at least strange in Leia's experience. As the front of the shuttle passed through the mag-field it suddenly crashed into the floor. Its engines kept it moving forward steadily, causing more and more of it to start skidding on the floor as it continued to pass through the mag-field, and creating an ear-wrenching metallic screech as it did so.

'_It must not have repulsor lifts!_' Leia thought. It was such an odd notion that a vehicle aside from the Empire's walkers to not have a repulsor. It was one of the oldest and most reliable technologies in the galaxy. '_The gravity will have to be turned off before they leave, or else they'll scuff the floor more._'

The ZAFT shuttle came to a shuddering halt and the first person to step off was Yzak. He stumbled a little as he grew adjusted to the environment of the ship. '_Heavy,_' he thought. '_Reminds me of being on Earth._' Yzak regained his balance with the usual Coordinator speed, meaning it wasn't noticeable except to other Coordinators, and continued walking off the shuttle with Dearka and the _Voltaire's_ doctor right behind him and two of the _Voltaire's_ crew who volunteered to be the security detail.

Leia was honestly surprised at how young the commander, whom she assumed was the man in white, was. She also noted how odd it was for such a young looking human to have silver hair, but that was irrelevant. The man stepped forward and immediately focused on her

"Commander Yzak Joule of ZAFT. I assume you are Princess Leia Organa?"

"I am"

The commander's eyes quickly scanned Leia's companions. "And these are?"

"Captain Antilles, captain of this ship the _Tantive IV_. Helmsman Cede Ban, our Duros pilot whom you requested to meet. And C-3PO my protocol droid who is highly knowledgeable in numerous foreign cultures, customs, and languages. He is here to help me with our talks." Stated Leia indicating each individual in turn.

Yzak's eyes lingered on the shiny gold droid but if he had any comments about it he kept them to himself. Instead he introduced Dearka as head of his security detail. Then the doctor he brought from the _Voltaire_ to whom he spoke to after introduction. "Doctor, I would like to get this over with as soon as possible. Where would be the best place to perform the test?"

"Right here will work if there are no objections." Said the doctor as he held up a small hand held device and a pack of needles.

Leia chose this moment to interject. "And exactly what type of test do you require Commander?"

"It's a simple blood test," explained the doctor. "This device is a blood analyzer designed for field use. Depending on the amount of blood it can quickly and easily scan tell us some basic things like blood type, ratio of blood components, gender, or" his eyes moved to the Duros, "whether its human or not."

Leia nodded in understanding before she rolled up her sleeve and held her arm out to the group of ZAFT soldiers. The doctor wasted no time and quickly obtained a sample. It took about a minute before it got the results they waited for. "Human," said the doctor as he swapped out the old needle with a fresh one and repeating the process with Antilles. The results were the same and soon the doctor was holding the device out to collect from the Duros. The entire ZAFT crew waited with such intensity that the air was practically electrified. Hesitantly the Duros held out an arm from which a sample of blood was taken. It took longer for the device to spit out its results, several minutes actually which was the longest the doctor ever had to wait on the thing, but finally the results appeared on the screed. The doctor looked up and said with authority, "Not human."

This was the moment that Leia was waiting for. Now that they had definitive proof of alien life from beyond their solar system, what would their reaction be?

Yzak let out a slow breath before turning to the princess. "I suppose I should listen to what you have to say before I submit my report."

* * *

**Planet: Earth, System: Sol, Sector: Unregistered, Region: Unknown Regions**

**3 Days Later**

Copernicus City, the only city on the moon. Built in year 10 of the Cosmic Era according to the Earth calendar. It is a neutral city inhabited and run by civilian and military representatives from every human nation in the Sol system. After the Second Bloody Valentine War it was chosen as the site of the newly created Sol Council, an organization established along similar lines to the old UN whose goal was to prevent the start of another war. The Sol Council held seats for representatives from every sovereign nation both on the Earth's surface and those in orbit. It is also a place where every nation's leader could meet to discuss any major development whose impact would affect all humans, both Coordinators and Naturals.

And now Copernicus City was host to the first living extraterrestrial life forms to make contact with Earth and its people.

Princess Leia stood at the window of the suite she had been given. She had been told that it was a diplomatic suit reserved for foreign representatives. At the computer terminal in the corner stood the _Tantive IV's_ golden protocol droid, who had been given a crash course in the written version of this planets language that was the same as Basic, was busy scanning through a written history of the system they had found themselves in.

At first the natives had been understandably wary of allowing either of the two droids off the ship but after a day's worth of tests performed while the _Tantive_ was being towed by the _Voltaire_ revealed that even the more technologically versatile R2-D2 was incapable of manually interfacing with the computer systems of this world. Still it would only be prudent to assume that they were keeping a record of the terminal's activity.

'_An entire planet untouched by the Empire. An unknown world that probably doesn't exist in even the most obscure database._' Mused Leia as she looked out upon the presented vista.

A knocking sound alerted Leia to the presence of someone at the door. The person let himself in meaning that it could only be Captain Antilles whom she had given her spare key to.

"Captain," she greeted, "Any word on the ship?"

"Yes princess. As you know it was put in dry dock when we got here two days ago. Since then our hosts have spent their time examining it. Unfortunately it is going to take some time to repair it. It seems that the base technology of this system isn't up to galactic standard yet. The crew should be able to help speed things along but we still have to wait for several replacement parts for the engines to be manufactured." Antilles practically grunted out that last part despite being in the presence of his employer. The captain was not happy about the damage his ship took. "The good news is that they actually have the capacity to manufacture the parts so it should only take a few days."

"If we must wait then we will. It gives me more time to speak with the leaders of this world. And it's not unheard of for a senator to disappear on an unscheduled vacation. But it would be wise to inform my father of our R&R. Have you been able to contact him?"

"Negative princess. I haven't been able to contact either your father or the Alliance through the Holonet, nor have I able to receive anything on the general broadcast channels. I don't know why, but it looks like we won't be talking to anyone until we get out of here." Again the captain was not happy about that. But then it was rarely a good thing to be left stranded in an unfamiliar region of space, amongst a people you don't know, and whom you needed to rely on to get home.

Leia herself was a little worried but there was nothing they could do about it. "Well, father will cover for me in the senate. Since we were on a mission for the Alliance it would be best if the Imperials weren't the ones searching for us. Not only could it lead them here but also to the Alliance."

"Have you heard any word of our host's decision about us?"

"I have spoken to representative members of the Sol Council who in turn spoke to their individual leaders. C-3PO is currently scanning through the planet's history and will tutor me about it over the next few days while as the world leaders gather here. The meeting is scheduled to take place in several days during which time they intend to debrief myself and the entire crew. Otherwise we are free to do as we wish, as long as we remain under supervision."

"And the Imperials aboard the Star Destroyer?"

"There're being troublesome. Whoever took over the command of the ship seems to be a diehard Imperial with no sense. Right now they're holding out in the remains of their ship. The ZAFT forces are hesitant to try and storm the ship because of the number of crewmen and soldiers that could be aboard. Especially after the first incident."

_**Flashback**_

Morgan's GuAIZ R mobile suit slowly rose upwards or downwards depending on perspective, towards the ventral hanger of the identified Star Destroyer. It had been a little over twenty-four hours since the battle between ZAFT and the large ship and it had been silent the whole time except for some lieutenant that came on the radio declaring that as the highest ranking officer on the ship he was in command and that he refused to surrender.

Not exactly a smart move, but word had spread throughout the _Voltaire_ that the leader of the other ship had stated during a brief interview that the Galactic Empire desired loyalty and obedience above all else from its various military branches and bureaucracies. Competency and the ability to think rationally were still desired traits they just weren't as valuable. But that didn't mean that there were no competent officers in the military, they are just assigned to more important ships at more important location.

Since the Imperials had cut off communication ZAFT needed an idea of what they were doing aboard their ship. The final decision was that one pilot would take their mobile suit and fly it up into the main docking bay to get a look at what was going on in the hanger. It was a volunteer mission because there was a high likelihood that there was some sort of trap waiting. Morgan volunteered instantly. And that's why his mobile suit was now floating towards the large hanger entrance on the bottom of the ship.

The minuets passed somewhat anti-climatically as the GuAIZ R passed through the mag-field and he could finally see the whites, grays, and black of the Imperial hanger.

Then a flash of red!

That was Morgan's only warning and his Coordinator reflexes the only thing that saved him as he moved his hovering mobile suit out of the way just missing the attack by centimeters. Instinctively he snapped the rifle arm of his GuAIZ up and fired upon his attacker. The beam lanced out, striking the head of a clunky looking animal-based mobile suit. The beam didn't stop on impact and continued, coring through the vehicle until the thing exploded, destroying two smaller ones that were standing at its side.

Not interested in seeing if there were any more surprises Morgan immediately reversed his mobile suit and flew down and out of the hanger just as more red energy darts passed through the space the GuAIZ R just occupied. "Damn that was close," he breathed.

"_Morgan what's your status?_" Asked the _Voltaire's_ mobile suit communications officer.

"They had some kind of weapon waiting in case we tried going up the hanger, kind of like we expected. I only got a glimpse of it before it blew up but it kind of looked like a tank with four legs instead of treads."

"…_Morgan why did it explode?_" Asked Yzak from the bridge.

"Because I shot it with my beam rifle."

"…"

"Hey it shot at me _first_! And maybe now those nimrods will surrender!"

"_Just get back to the ship._" Growled Yzak.

"Uh, yes sir."

_**Flashback End**_

Antilles, who now sat on the rather comfortable overstuffed sofa, thought about what the Imperials were doing. "Idiots, that's what they are." He eventually said. "Unless they can make external repairs there ship is useless. And I doubt that the people of Earth are about to allow a group as hostile as the Imperials are to do that."

"It doesn't matter," stated Leia from her armchair. "What happens to them is of no concern of ours. Even if they were to be released back to the Empire they don't know who we are and only that our ship is a Corellian Corvette, one of the most common models in the galaxy." Closing her eyes and resting her head on the backrest so that her face pointed upwards. "What we have to worry about is the upcoming meeting."

It was peaceful contemplation for the two humans that was suddenly interrupted by the one droid. "Oh My! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear."

"Threepio, what's wrong?" Asked Leia.

"Excuse me Princess but I have just finished with the history analysis, as well as a download of all native languages and customs. But the most recent data is…"

"What exactly have you found Threepio?"

Leia was silent for moment before saying, "I had thought that would be a possibility. It is common for any planet that has multiple nations to have wars with itself."

"Yes princess," Threepio confirmed quietly. "But it is how long ago the last war was and what it was about that worries me."

The princess cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Explain."

"The last war on this planet, a war that involved every nation, ended only six local months ago…" That shocked Leia. She had been thinking that it would have been closer to six local years at least. "…and while there were several official reasons for why the war and the one before it started, it seems most people believe that the root cause had nothing to do with politics or any philosophical beliefs but rather genetics and the () between Naturals and Coordinators."

Both Leia and Antilles were confused by that last part. "Who?" Asked the captain.

Then Threepio went into a detail filled explanation of how at how near the beginning of this planet's current calendar a new technology and techniques in genetic manipulation were introduced and how this technology was used to alter the genetics of embryos in the earliest stages of development to make children that had physically stronger and faster bodies that were immune to all known diseases and minds that learned more easily and was capable of thought processes far beyond the ordinary. These children were named Coordinators and the superior genetics of the first generation was passed on to their children.

He explained how children born without these enhancements came to be called Naturals. And that many Naturals, for various religious and philosophical reasons, spurred by the envy they felt, came to hate Coordinators for their abilities and for how they came to be. This eventually led to the forming of the terrorist group Blue Cosmos. Similarly a number of Coordinators started believing that they were a new form of the human race and humanities future and that Naturals were annoying bugs that needed to be removed for the sake of future Coordinators. Ultimately these differences led to the majority of Coordinators choice to immigrate to the PLANTs, the large orbital cities they had seen while being towed to the moon, leaving the Earth in the hands of the Naturals.

Then Threepio explained how only a few years ago a series of events, such as the bombing of the UN, caused an escalation of tension which led to the Bloody Valentine War, a war between the PLANTs and the Earth Alliance and the first war to see the use of mobile suits. Threepio explained of the numerous important events such as the dropping of the N-Jammers, the two times the Cyclops system was used, the use of nuclear weapons, and the battles involving the superweapon Genesis. Then the two years of peace before entering the Second Bloody Valentine war, a war that people attributed to corrupt leaders instigating through secret dealings as a means to take advantage of the people's feelings and manipulate them to ultimately try and take control of the world.

At the end of the droids speech Princess Leia was looking worried. "This complicates matters." She would have to double check everything herself, but from what Threepio had said this would make her negotiations unpredictable at best. From the signs of the people she had met so far, the inhabitants were working hard to unify themselves in a way to prevent a future war. This would indicate that they were tired of war and would probably want nothing to do with the Rebellion and their fight against the Empire. The people may be enticed by the prospect of a galaxy full of life, new technologies, and other possibilities, but if they wanted to avoid war then they may believe that the best way to avoid the Empire is to stay in this hidden and unexplored part of the galaxy. Though it was still possible that Leia could convince them that it was only a matter of time before the Empire found them here.

But one of things that most worried her were the two superweapons Threepio mentioned. Genesis and Requiem both of which were powerful weapons that could wipe out an entire fleet of ships, or put an end to all life on a planet. If this system bound people could build not one but two such weapons then what could an empire composed of millions of planets do? If the Emperor ever got his hands on these technologies his fleets would be unstoppable.

"Threepio," she eventually said. "Tell me everything you know about the leaders that will be coming to the negations."

* * *

**Planet: Earth, System: Sol, Sector: Unregistered, Region: Unknown Regions**

**Star Destroyer **_**Mangle**_

Aboard the _Victory_-class Star Destroyer moral was not high among the crewmen. This was obvious to one young junior Lieutenant Tristan Pellaeon. He sat in the ship's mess hall, listening to the various mutterings and rumors.

Things were looking bad with a considerable percentage of the senior staff having been killed, and not just from the destruction of the bridge but when various sections of the ship were damaged from the destruction of the shields, weapons, and engines. They didn't have a full load of consumables, only enough to last a year, and most of the food was premade military rations. With the loss of their engines the ship's power requirements were reduced so the fuel for the hypermatter annihilation reactor would last longer, not that that was a positive note in this situation.

Many of the mutterings and rumors spreading amongst the men had to do with the system they found themselves in and how impossibly quickly they had been defeated. Tristan had to admit to himself after having reviewed the battle records that the machines they had fought had seemed impossibly effective. The shields had been able to temporarily stop them which was normal for the ship's primary defense, but what really worried him was how easily their weapons had bypassed the secondary defense, the ship's armor.

The armor on most of the Empire's naval combat ships was strong enough that it could block several consecutive laser blasts from a starfighter of similar size to those machines. It did no good for systems that had to be outside the armor to work properly such as sensors or communication but it did prevent the hull from being ruptured thus preventing the destruction of the ship. On a vessel the size of a the _Mangle_ the armor was thick enough that it was virtually impenetrable and even the locations that had less armor such as the weapons emplacements could survive a few direct hits. But they didn't. Instead the enemy's energy weapons had sliced right through them.

Then there was the AT-AT. Those walkers had the strongest armor short of a capital ship and only a high-yield explosive like a proton torpedo or a turbolaser should have been able to destroy it in one shot, yet the machine that had tried to infiltrate the hanger had done so, even if logic dictated that judging from its size it shouldn't have been able to do that.

That could only mean that whoever controlled this system had developed not only a high performance machine that can win in a four to one battle, but has equipped each machine with a weapon that was far more effective and powerful then the standard laser cannon found on most starfighters.

If all that was true then the ship could be destroyed at any moment and all the people aboard killed. But the officers currently in charge haven't come to realize that possibility yet.

Tristan remembered something his uncle once said to him when he joined the Imperial Navy. "A good officer is committed to doing their duty. Their life is not their own. They must be dedicated to their service to the military, the Empire, and above all their duty to ensure that their men get home safely. If a man cannot remember that then they do not deserve to serve as an officer on one of His Majesty's ships."

With that in mind Tristan stood up from his seat and made his way over to the group most vocal against what those in charge were doing.

* * *

**Planet: Earth, System: Sol, Sector: Unregistered, Region: Unknown Regions**

Three more days had passed and the time had finally come for Leia to meet the leaders of this planet's nations. The chamber they were meeting in was a grand one whose construction was finished only months ago.

One half of the room was occupied by eleven semi-circular tables built into the floor and possessing of several computer terminals and seats for the representatives and several aides. The tables were set in a half-circle pattern so that it would be easy for each representative to see and hear each other, and each table bore along its front the flag of the nation of the representative that sat there. There was a twelfth table reserved for guests that could rise up out of the floor placed on the other end of the room facing the rest of the representatives' seats. Along each wall were four large monitors accompanied by several smaller monitors.

Currently Leia sat at the guest speaker's table with Threepio and Antilles. The Duros helmsman of the _Tantive IV_ had also been invited but he declined. He would have only been there to drive the fact that the people of the _Tantive IV_, who had all been asked to participate in numerous medical tests, came from beyond the solar system.

Leia watched the various world leaders and their escorts enter, listing off the information she had acquired about each. The list included the Prime Ministers of the Eurasian Federation and Republic of East Asia, the leaders of the South Africa Union, African Community, Oceania Union, the Equilateral Union, and the Kingdom of Scandinavia, and president of the United States of South America.

Among the more and most prominent members to enter was George White. '_George White, new president of the Atlantic Federation, came into office shortly after the death of the previous president. A Young man by Earth's standards he has grown popular among the people for his calm yet forceful demeanor when dealing with others, his moderate beliefs, and his more liberal views on Coordinators. He has spent considerable time and energy during his administration clearing out the corruption that has plagued and controlled the Atlantic Federation for years._'

But the real 'stars' she noted were the leaders of the PLANTs Supreme Chairwoman Lacus Clyne and Cagalli Yula Athha the Chief Representative of Orb, both of them sitting in the center of the representatives. Antilles had noted previously that the two women had a lot in common with the princess of Alderaan. Both were daughters of influential leaders, leaders who did what they thought was right even if it put them in danger. Both had at a young age taken over their fathers' previous positions. Both had joined up with a 'rebel' group in order to restore peace to their world and to try to make it a better place, and one of them, like Leia, had military training.

Leia herself heard the comparisons, understood them, and hoped to use that to understand them and hopefully get them to agree to what Leia wished to propose. From what she had learned since arriving in this system it was these two who, because of all they had done in the past three years, held the greatest influence amongst the Sol Council and the general population of Earth's people. The power they had was a little intimidating individually, but together it was beyond words.

Cagalli Yula Athha was a woman who let her actions speak for her. She loved her people and would go to any lengths for them, even fighting on the frontlines to defend them if there was a need to do so. She had earned the respect of her nation's military.

Lacus Clyne was a magnificent orator that could move the hearts of people. While she was not a fighter like her counterpart from Orb she had shown her own dedication and courage by commanding a ship on the frontlines of battle against a numerically superior force. And the woman was one of the few Coordinators present.

Leia had met many members from numerous alien species that are physically larger and more powerful than humans and was not bothered by them, but she found it a little disconcerting that this petite woman who was a little shorter then Leia and probably a few pounds lighter could probably break her in two if she really wanted to.

Sitting beside each woman were two more notable mentions. Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala, two men who were considered to be among the very best, if not the absolute best, of mobile suit pilots, played key roles in the previous two wars, and held unusual positions in the current world. Kira Yamato held two military positions, one for Orb where he held the rank of Admiral and one in ZAFT where he is a Commander and is Lacus Clyne's security escort. Athrun Zala was in a similar position, holding the rank of Captain in Orb's military and is in charge of Cagalli's security, and for ZAFT he had been restored to his position as an agent of F.A.I.T.H. by Lacus.

These two were considered heroes in the militaries of the world, and their thoughts would hold a lot of weight amongst military leaders. Though Leia noticed the odd look Kira Yamato had given her. It appeared as if Kira Yamato had recognized something about her. The funny thing was that as soon as he walked into the room Leia has heard a faint yet annoying buzz in the back of her head, but clearing her head and focusing on the task at head had gotten rid of it.

At last everyone had arrived and was ready. The lights along the outer edge dimmed increasing the shadows along the wall, creating the illusion that the room and all the people within were separated from the rest of the world. Once this had happened Lacus Clyne stood up, a friendly and open smile upon her face.

"Hello everyone, it's good to see you everyone here. And I am most glad to greet our guests here today."

* * *

**Sector: Bright Jewel Cluster, Region: Mid Rim Territories bordering Wild Space**

**Star Destroyer: Venomous Fang**

Admiral Davros waited patiently within the office section of his personal quarters, the music of a Coruscanti ballad drifting through the air as he enjoyed a cup of tea imported from Alderaan. It was a brief respite from the daily tedium of military bureaucracy and the onerous task of finding and destroying any pirates or rebels found in the area he was assigned to watch over. But to his annoyance it was not to be as all too soon there was a beep signaling that someone desired an audience with him.

"What is it?" He asked somewhat snappishly to the aid that walked in.

"Sir, there's an anomaly in the patrol reports."

"Explain."

"Captain Darkel and the _Mangle_ have disappeared from their scheduled patrol route. According to regional reports they were last seen at Ord Mantell."

Davros sighed in annoyance. Darkel had been a nuisance to the Admiral for some time. It was hardly a secret that he was gunning for an Admiral's post for himself, but he just wasn't competent enough to get it. And as much as Davros would love to have the little annoyance out from under his feet the _Mangle_ was still a valuable ship that shouldn't have been brought down by some ordinary pirates. It would take someone with much better equipment and people to run them. And that meant Davros would have to investigate for possible Rebel Alliance activity, or explain to the Emperor why one of the Empire's Star Destroyers has gone missing. He would have to gather a task force and head to Ord Mantell to find any clues as to their whereabouts.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** For everyone who has read the previous Author's notes last chapter I would like to say that I consider the challenge to still be open. A number of people asked if they could take up the challenge and so far only one person has posted anything. However I would like to say that just because one person has posted something does not mean other people can't. I started this challenge in hope of inspiring other people to try their hand at writing what I think would be a good crossover story. So anyone who is still interested in writing a Star Wars/Gundam SEED crossover feel free to do so.

By the way, my second chapter is not available for other people to use. This chapter and any I write afterward belongs only to me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Growth of a Seed**

Disclaimer:

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

President White overlooked the view of Copernicus City from his veranda as he poured wine from a decanter into two glasses resting on the stand beside him. The meeting with the extraterrestrials had ended a short while ago, but only after several hours of 'storytelling' followed by a much shorter time spent actually debating or negotiating.

It had been a rather momentous occasion, the first official talks with beings that lived beyond the solar system, one of whom was even a high ranking political official for two galactic organizations. However the circumstances of these interstellar visitors' visit ultimately led to only one possible outcome for the negotiations.

_Flashback_

The world leaders took a few moments of silence to contemplate everything. Princess Organa had spent the most time talking, explaining to her listeners what the galaxy beyond their system was like and what sort of political environment the Galactic Empire that ruled it was. More than a few times had she been interrupted and asked to elaborate on a point, such as how the Galactic Republic could become the Galactic Empire through a single man's manipulation.

Leia was able to tell part of the story thanks to what her father had told her what happened almost twenty years. but no one was fully capable of understanding how Palpatine had managed to do it. The only plausible explanation, one that Leia's father suspected, as to how it could be done was if Palpatine had orchestrated all of the events behind the Clone Wars. The beginning, middle, end, and some probable events that led up to the war.

Once she was done, the princess then made a request.

She requested that the people of Earth, as fellow believers in democracy and freedom, to aid the Alliance to restore the Republic in its fight against the oppressive tyranny of the Galactic Empire. The request had been made respectfully, but to the more experienced politicians there was a noticeable hint of pleading. Understandable, for if what Leia had said was the truth then the Rebel Alliance was in desperate need of everything if they truly wanted to defeat the Empire.

The world leaders than spent the next lengthy amount of time discussing everything that had been said. When they were finished, Lacus addressed Leia. "Thank you for explaining the situation to us, Miss Organa. It has been very enlightening. And while I speak for everyone here when I say that we sympathize with your plight, we cannot help you. We have only just begun to truly recover from our own wars. I'm afraid that to take part in another at this time is not possible."

Leia understood but she wasn't ready to give up yet. "But what of a technological trade? It won't take away from your resources and our technology could help you with rebuilding. And after having seen your mobile suits, I believe that your technology could give the Alliance an advantage in at least the small engagements."

"For the time being, we also can't do that," responded the Prime Minister of the Eurasian Federation. "Currently, the only source of information we have concerning the rest of the galaxy is what you and the members of your ship's crew tells us. So what if you lied to us and the situation is not as what you have made it out to be? After reviewing records of the battle, we have come to the agreement that our mobile suits and weapons technology will give us an edge against interlopers. An edge we are afraid to give to others and then have used against us."

That was what it all boiled down to. If Leia was telling the truth, then the people of Earth would find it both desirable and beneficial to give the Alliance aid, but then there would be the risk of the Empire discovering them and bringing the full force of its military power down upon them. And that situation could only be worsened should Earth give the Alliance technology that was then stolen by the Imperials.

Then there was the chance that Leia is being dishonest. That the intentions of the Alliance are not what she made them out to be, if it even exists. Or the possibility, however improbable, that the whole battle was staged as a ruse to fool the people of Earth.

At that time the president of the Atlantic Federation spoke up.

"I have a proposal. This Empire, if it is anything like the princess described, is clearly a threat to our planet and people. But, as my Eurasian collogue pointed out, aside from what we have learned through communication with the Imperial ship, we only have her word of what they are like as well as the intentions of the Alliance and the Empire. What I propose is that we send a group out into the galaxy with the princess and her ship when they leave, whose mission will be to learn of what the galaxy is like and report back to us. Based on their report, we will make our final decision on which faction we choose to join, if any."

_Flashback End_

The proposal was accepted by all parties as it was seemingly the most logical course of action at the moment. It was also ruled by the council that until they came back, their reports were thoroughly reviewed, and a final decision made, no aid was to be given to the visitors beyond what they needed to get back home.

That was the outcome White and probably just about everyone there had predicted.

The sound of a pair of footsteps alerted the President to the arrival of his expected guest. "I'm glad you could make it so soon." He said, turning to the gentleman that had walked into the presidential suite, holding out the second glass of wine which was accepted. The gentleman was elderly, bald, bearded, and needed a cane though he still proudly walked straight and tall. "I thought you would be so immersed in your work that you would completely forget our appointment."

"I am not a man to forget my priorities," stated the old man seriously. "This arrangement is too important for both of us." He took a sip from his glass and took a moment to mentally appraise the wine. "I assume that the negotiations went according to our predictions?"

"They did, which means we have to stick to the plan."

The elder gentleman glanced over to the young president. "Are you sure you want to do this? You still have most of your life ahead of you and should something go wrong, your career and reputation…"

"Don't try talking me out of this now; I was the one to contact you. The importance of this deal is too great, and with great reward comes great risk. A risk I am willing to take." The president's face then darkened. "The Atlantic Federation, my home and the country I love, is just a shadow of its former self. For too long, the likes of Blue Cosmos and Logos have manipulated and used us for their own gain, only for their plans to fail and backlash on them, taking the Atlantic Federation with them. Ever since I took office, I dedicated myself to restoring my country to its former glory."

"I wonder whether you are demonstrating the determination of passion or the fanciful follies of youth," muttered the old man.

To this comment, the president just grinned. "I like to think it's a bit of both," he admitted. "But you surely can't tell me that you're not excited about this. After all, if everything works out you should be one step closer to finishing your project, and stand to claim the title of greatest scientific innovator in human history." He paused for a moment and considered his words. "Or, at the very least, in the history of this planet."

The old man smiled in amusement. White had figured out his hidden emotions quite easily and with frightening accuracy. "The title is just a trinket compared to the knowledge of what my work could create. You should know that for your goals are similar, are they not, Mr. President?"

"Indeed they are, Mr. Schenberg."

* * *

**Planet: Ord Mantell  
System: Bright Jewel system  
Sector: Bright Jewel Cluster  
Region: Mid Rim Territories bordering Wild Space**

**Star Destroyer **_**Venomous Fang**_

Davros watched the planet Ord Mantell spin slowly from the bridge of his flagship. "Has there been any sign of the _Mangle_?"

The captain of the ship reported a negative. Ord Mantell, like most planetary governments, didn't bother to keep track of every ship that flew to or from the planet. Instead it was merely left to the various spaceports to keep track of any ships that docked with them.

Public spaceports required that any and all ships fill out various papers such as cargo manifests and passenger lists for both incoming and outgoing trips as well as forms for activities like maintenance or refueling. However those were done to make sure the proper people got the appropriate bill. Private spaceports had to follow similar procedures, but they were notorious for providing far less details to ensure the 'privacy' of their customers.

This problem was compounded by Ord Mantell's history of semi-lawlessness, along with the various underworld connections the planet had which made sure the local governor's pockets were well lined, it was easy enough for the landing records of an entire fleet of ships to disappear. If they ever existed at all.

But this knowledge did not prevent Davros from snarling in anger, because it wasn't possible for Ord Mantell to have not noticed the presence of a ship the size of the _Mangle_ flying within their vicinity. He had been hoping that there would be at least a clue that he could use to explain the disappearance of the ship to the Admiralty so that the entirety of the blame would be placed on Darkel.

Without such an explanation it was likely that he would be the one who was blamed. But then he considered, the only possible way for Ord Mantell to have not noticed a Star Destroyer's crew, at the behest of the ship's master, was not using standard procedure and hid the ship. Darkel didn't have the authority to circumvent procedure, and it provided a nice plausible theory.

The only other explanation would be if those in charge of Ord Mantell were covering up something.

"Sir," called an ensign at the communications console, "I am picking up a holo-comm transmission from the planet's surface that is using Imperial naval encryptions."

Davros cocked en eyebrow. "Really," he murmured. "Captain, find the source of that transmission and bring the individual responsible in for interrogation. I will be waiting in my quarters for the report."

As it turned out, Davros didn't have to wait long. All official, and most unofficial, holonet transceivers were strictly controlled by the Empire so a simple check of the logs showed that it was some minor government administrative aide. Of course troops were sent to his home and workplace in order to pick him up and escort him to a shuttle that would bring him up to the Star Destroyer. Within a few hours the man was sitting 'comfortably' within one of the interrogation cells with some men that probably enjoyed their work a little _too_ much.

Needless to say, the man sang like a bird. The tune was interesting but not very long. According to the report handed to Davros after it was finished, the aide had sent out information about a Rebel meeting and was answered by Darkel. Darkel used the aide to find a dockworker that would slip in a virus that would hide and transmit any hyperspace coordinates right before a jump.

The aide, being as opportunistic as he was, had managed to get a hold of the virus and added some additional code that would send a second transmission to himself.

That was the data that Davros was looking over, the coordinates of the hyperspace jump. He tried matching them up with all of the coordinates in the _Venomous Fang's_ database and he did not like the results. '_A jump leading straight into the Unknown Regions from Ord Mantell? That's suicidal._' Yet the coordinates didn't lie, and the calculations to get to the final destination seemed sound. But the thought that someone had managed to discover a route past that hyperspace anomaly ridden region of space that separated the Unknown Regions from the civilized portion of the galaxy controlled by the Empire was practically preposterous.

However it could be a valuable piece of information about the rebels, a trap to destroy pursuing vessels, or it could be some desperate attempt at escape that likely led to the destruction of both the Rebels and the _Mangle_. Further investigation was required.

"Lieutenant," he said to the aide patiently waiting for orders, "Inform the captain that our probe droids are to be prepped and launched to these coordinates along the calculated route with one stopping every light year once they pass the border region, with adjusted calculations to compensate for the elapsed time. When that is done we will remain here until the droids' reports come in. Oh, and the aide in interrogation is to be executed. I'm sure the only reason he was aware of the rebels is because of some connection to a smuggling organization."

* * *

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

Leia was curious as to why the President of the Atlantic Federation had requested an audience with her. It was the day after the negotiations and based on current estimation just two more days before the _Tantive IV_ would be ready to leave dry-dock, and Earth's leaders were still in the process of selecting the few who would participate in the coming reconnaissance mission.

She wasn't particularly nervous. Why should she? The Sol Council had made its decision regarding the rest of the galaxy, including Leia and the _Tantive's_ crew. And because of the fragmented nature of the planet, no single nation could take action for or against her without facing repercussions from the others.

She was brought to the Atlantic Federation embassy and was escorted to the president's suite, only just noticing the lightly armed guards. She was more interested in the music that was emanating from behind the doors. She was let in to a rather lovely suite that reminded her somewhat of one of the relaxation social rooms used for after party conversation at the Alderaanian palace. And George White stood at the far end of the room staring out a large window to the city beyond.

White had noticed her entry and turned to her with a smile. "Princess, please come in. If you'd like, I have some excellent wine for refreshment."

Leia accepted the wine and thanked him both for the wine and inviting her. As she sipped the wine, noticing it was a bit tarter than her favorite Alderaanian wine, she took an appreciative glance out to the city, the Earth, and stars shining in the 'night' sky above the city. It was an amazing sight, made more so by the knowledge of how difficult and painstaking it must have been to for the people of Earth to simulate their home planet so thoroughly, even managing to almost simulate the stronger gravity perfectly, with their level of technology.

As a diplomat's daughter Leia had seen many planets, moons, and artificial satellites throughout the galaxy and had detailed knowledge of dozens, if not hundreds more. She was aware that this lunar city was not entirely unique. There were probably hundreds of similar installations on various moons and asteroids across the galaxy, but many of those were the private getaways of the rich and powerful, and those that weren't were designed for tourists.

And orbital stations were a credit a dozen serving as refueling stations, trading outposts, large starship construction and repair docks, even orbital cities such as what the Duros constructed when their home planet became no longer habitable. But those facilities were all very utilitarian in design and purpose with little in the way of the wide open spaces or plant life, aside from designated greenhouses and agriculture centers. They were nothing like this open and welcoming city where plants grew in abundance for both the pleasure of their presence and as an air reclamation system.

"A beautiful sight," said White, speaking Leia's thoughts. "I don't know if it compares to anything out where you're from, but I'd like to think that this moon, this planet, is a real gem."

"Don't sell yourself short, Mr. President. You'd be hard pressed to find a creation such as this city no matter what part of the galaxy you venture into. Some would say that this city is a work of art. But I don't think that you asked me here for my opinion of the view."

"Heh, I knew you were a sharp one, princess, but I didn't expect you to be blunt around other politicians."

"It all depends on whom I am speaking to. At the Senate I wouldn't be, but I have already shared some of my most guarded secrets, secrets the Empire would torture and kill me for. So what do I have to worry about here?"

"Nothing, I suppose. As for why I asked you here, well I better wait for my other guest to arrive. He's running a little late and should have been here by now." As if summoned by the young politician the door opened and an elderly man walked in as if he owned the suites. "But there he is now. Hello, Aeolia, what kept you?"

"We were running a live-fire test with one of the rebuilt weapons. There was some sort of malfunction and it exploded. It was contained and thankfully those exposed walked away with only minor injuries. But aren't you forgetting your manners, young man? A proper introduction needs to be made."

Not many people could get away with admonishing the leader of a nation as powerful as the Atlantic Federation about a breach of etiquette, but Aeolia Schenberg was one of them.

"Sorry, Aeolia, this is Princess Leia Organa, member of the Imperial Senate and spy for the Alliance to restore the Republic. Princess Leia, this is Aeolia Schenberg, founder and head researcher of Anaheim Electronics. And to answer your earlier question about why you are here, Aeolia asked me to set up a meeting between the two of you so that you may discuss business."

"Business?" asked Leia, "What type of business? You can't mean some sort of trade after the Council made the decree that no one could make such interactions beyond the need to repair my ship."

"It's true that the Council did forbid trade until a final decision was made," said Aeolia. "However the Council only has power of authority over the governments of the world and those institutions they control or fund. A privately owned and operated group such as Anaheim Electronics is beyond their control, thus I am well within my legal ability to negotiate with you."

Excitement grew within Leia to such a degree that she set down her glass so as to not give away the fact that her hands were trembling slightly. This was more then she had hoped for, the chance to have technology that the Empire was completely unaware of, an advantage the Rebels never had before. Yes, it would have been nice to be able to join the entirety of Earth's resources to the cause, but this would be enough for now. And she would just make sure that the representatives joining the _Tantive IV_ would leave with a favorable image of the Alliance's stance in the galaxy. But she couldn't lose her head over this.

"This willingness and ability to offer trade is tempting, Mr. Schenberg. But I assume that while the Sol Council has no direct authority over you, they have implied authority, at least in a matter such as this. And I can't help but wonder what sort of benefits the Atlantic Federation gets out of this deal," said Leia as she turned her eyes on her fellow politician.

White raised his hands as if in surrender, "I assure you, Princess, I am not attempting some sort of arms race with this deal. Anaheim Electronics is a multi-national organization with facilities in 7 of the eleven nations of the Sol Council. Also while the Council has no direct authority over it, there were certain laws instituted by every nation. Laws created to act as deterrents to another war. One such law is that when any new technology that falls within a preset list of criteria is developed by any organization, whether in the public or private sector, it must be made available on an open market. Meaning that anything Anaheim Electronics built with your technology would have to be publically declared and made available to all potential buyers. The consequences for not abiding by this law can be quite dire."

But that answer did quite satisfy Leia. "It still seems strange that you would be a part of this secret deal, President White, considering what you proposed during the negotiations."

"I am simply doing what I can to facilitate the advance of a relationship between Earth and the Alliance. But I do have an ulterior motive, the desire that my actions can restore the Atlantic Federation to what it once was, before the likes of Logos interfered. And while I can't say that I know for sure whether or not you're telling the truth, the evidence does support you, and I am willing to take the risk that you are being honest. Though to do so in an open political environment would have been a disaster."

Now Leia understood. White couldn't have initiated this sort of action openly, and neither could any other of the political leaders, with a group they know so little about. On this planet that would have been politically bad. But he could use the law to get her in touch with someone that had no such political constraints. "Very well then. Mr. Schenberg, how shall we begin?"

Aeolia walked over to one of the table's that held a small device on it. Pressing a button a screen slid out of the top of the machine, which was soon filled with a changing image of various schematics.

"This computer contains the technical information of five mobile suits. The ZGMF-1017 GINN, ZGMF-515 CGUE, GAT-01 Strike Dagger, GAT-01A1 Dagger, and the GAT-01A2 Dagger. Aside from the mobile suits' frame design and OS, the computer also contains files on their alloy composition and defensive technologies, such as the anti-beam coating on mobile suit shields and the laminated armor used in the Dagger models. There are also files on how to construct the various weapons such as the assault rifle, missile pods, GINN sword, beam rifle, beam sub-machine gun, and beam saber and just about any other equipment they possess."

"An impressive amount of data you're willing to trade," commented Leia. "I notice that there doesn't seem to be any of the machines that took down the Star Destroyer, nor any others I have recently seen. Why is that?"

"That's because these are older models with the most basic of our mobile suit technologies," answered Aeolia. "We have many more mobile suits that are environment and situation specific, and numerous models that contain more advanced technology. President White and I agreed it would be too much to present that on the table in the first round."

"I understand," said Leia. "And what would you like in return?"

"The first item we would like is similar technical schematics for your ship. Specifically we are interested in your engines, power reactors, artificial gravity generation, energy shield, and the technology used to create the barrier that holds in atmosphere from escaping into vacuum. The second item is any records aboard your ship that concerns the galaxy, any files on flora and fauna, whether sentient or not, and information on any political organizations. The third and final item is any information for medical technology you possess aboard your ship."

Leia didn't even hesitate before agreeing to the terms. "I will have my protocol droid begin translating the information into your writing system. And as a gesture of good faith, I will also have Threepio include translations for the twenty most common languages after Basic." They really weren't asking much. The technology and information that the Alliance had to offer was a hundred times greater than the contents of a single ship, or two if you counted the disabled Star Destroyer.

* * *

**Planet: Ord Mantell  
System: Bright Jewel system  
Sector: Bright Jewel Cluster  
Region: Mid Rim Territories bordering Wild Space  
Star Destroyer **_**Venomous Fang**_

Davros was just about to sit down to his evening meal in his private quarters when a tone indicated that someone desired entry to his quarters. "This had better be important," the admiral stated in irritation at the entering lieutenant for interrupting his meal.

"Sorry for the disturbance, sir, but you asked for the data from the probe droids as soon as we received and analyzed it."

Davros cocked an eyebrow. "Already? We only sent the droids out yesterday."

"Yes sir, but despite the distance between Ord Mantell and the Unknown Regions the droids have all reached their final destination. Part of it seems to be the result of some hyperspace anomaly that accelerated the machines. But it's mostly because a considerable number of the droids were stopped short before reaching the endpoint of the coordinates."

The lieutenant entered a command into his datapad that activated the Admiral's private holo-projector, bringing up an image from the ship's computer. The image showed a basic galactic map of the space and stars of the area from Ord Mantell to the original system that the coordinates indicated. A red line than appeared, outlining the path of the droids.

"All of the droids up to number 237 stopped at their appointed checkpoints. Their initial findings indicate that the path is clear and safe. Although scouts and astrocartographers will have to investigate the path before it can get Imperial approval as an open and safe hyperspace route."

"We're not concerned with opening a new hyperspace route, only if it is useable and what is at the end. What of the droids after 237?"

"Those droids were stopped after entering this cluster of stars," the map zoomed in on a group of a dozen or so stars with the droids' red path ending at the star in the center. "There they encountered a gravity well, and exited as per safety protocols. As with the others, once they were in-system they began transmitting data, however…"

"However what?"

The lieutenant entered another command that switched the image over to a different image. This one was a still image that was admittedly very poor in quality, so poor Davros wasn't sure what it was. "This is an image from one of the droids. All the images are similar to this and lasted at best a few seconds before cutting out. Our analysts suspect the cause is either some sort of natural phenomena for that system or even the entire cluster, or artificial jamming. If it is the latter, then it would mean whoever is behind it must have been doing it over a vast swath of space around the planet, and the expense of doing such without good reason leads us to believe it's probably the former."

"This is the best you have?" asked the admiral.

"The best natural image, sir. During analyses, all of the images were cleaned up and compiled together into one image. Its quality is considerably higher." The holo-projector changed images again, showing a still somewhat fuzzy picture of a blue planetoid with what may have been a moon in the distance. Closer to the viewpoint of the image was a large grey, fuzzy triangle that looked quite familiar to the admiral.

"Is that…?"

"We believe so, sir. Also the readings, while also jammed, indicated that there had been recent ship activity beyond the _Mangle_. We can't confirm due to the jamming but we are over 95 percent sure of our findings."

"Rebel ships?"

"We can't verify it but it would be a logical guess considering who the _Mangle_ was chasing."

Davros thought about the information for a few seconds. Then he asked, "This route is safe, yes?"

"To the best of our knowledge. A probe droid's sensors aren't exactly designed for this but they are sophisticated enough to pick out any dangers."

"Good," said Davros as he brought out a datacard. "I'm giving you a list of ships and their captains as well as coordinates for a rendezvous. I want them there as soon as possible, prepared for a fleet action. We will be going to the planet to deal with any rebels and retrieving the _Mangle_."

"Very good sir."

The lieutenant turned and left, leaving the admiral to return to his dinner, which had grown cold. '_I'll have to think up a punishment for him after everything has been taken care of,_' he thought as he called the ships chief to prepare him a fresh dinner.

* * *

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

Leia spent another two local hours at the president's suite. Some of the time was spent working out a few minor details of how to get their respective items of information to the other, and as well as getting a better feel for the partners involved in the deal.

But most of it was simply to give the appearance that she was simply a dinner guest. And she did have dinner with the two, a type of local fowl called a duck marinated in a type of fruit marinade.

As she and her escorts, both her own and those provided by the council, walked back to her own hotel she felt very good about the day.

Suddenly she felt something. A sensation in the back of her head not unlike what she felt at the negotiations. Leia stopped walking and turned to look behind her. She had a feeling that there was something behind her. And there was, or rather someone.

Kira Yamato stood there, wearing normal civilian attire rather than the military uniform he wore the last time Leia had seen him.

"Good evening, Princess Organa," he greeted warmly. "I was hoping that if you could spare a few moments, you wouldn't mind taking a quick walk with me." Kira said indicating a park that was conveniently nearby. "Lacus is waiting in there and would like to speak with you."

'_Talks with two leaders in one day? Should I find this advantageous or troubling?_' "I'd love to," said Leia, not seeing any harm in the activity.

The guards kept a respectful distance as the diplomat and pilot quietly strolled into the park, though a short way into it Leia noticed that Kira seemed unusually interested in her face, staring at her from the corner of his eye.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Yamato?"

"Ah, sorry," Kira said in apology, his face slightly red from the embarrassment of being caught. "Call me Kira, and I'm sorry for staring. It's just that I'm having some trouble getting used to…"

"Getting used to the fact that the first group of living aliens to make contact with your people is comprised of mostly humans," Leia finished for him. "Am I right, Kira?"

"Well yes." Responded Kira simply. "The Whale Stone brought back from Jupiter proved that life exists beyond our planet. I just don't think anyone suspected that there would be human life."

Leia couldn't help but smile in amusement. Conversations like this were one of the more enjoyable aspects of her duties. "I've seen a picture of that Whale Stone. Believe it or not, it bears a striking resemblance to a thranta, a domesticated species from my homeworld."

"Really? That must have surprised you when you saw it."

"Yes, but I am used to surprises like that. The galaxy is a big place, with a long and varied history. No matter how often or how far you travel, you are sure to see and experience things that you just would never expect."

As if to prove her point on the unexpected, a small, green, robotic bird suddenly flew up right into Leia's face, giving the princess a start, stopping her in her tracks.

"Birdy?" inquired the little robot as it tilted its head, as real birds tend to do when they are examining something, as if it was wondering what Leia was. The bird's examination lasted only a moment before it seemed to make its choice about the princess before it flew up and landed atop her head, hopping in place until it was settled on its new perch.

Leia's eyes rolled up, trying to see the small robot that was roosting on her head and Kira couldn't help but to laugh at the antics of his mechanical pet.

"Sorry about that," Kira said in apology, though it was difficult to determine his sincerity behind that amused smile and his efforts to stifle more laughs.

"What is this?" asked Leia as she attempted to get the bird off her head, only for it to keep hopping out of the way of her hand.

"Birdy, Birdy!" it cried in protest.

Kira couldn't help but let out a few more laughs. "That's Birdy. He's kind of a pet that a friend built for me." Reaching out with his hand, Kira got Birdy to switch over to the more willing perch.

Leia gave the mechanical bird, which she was classifying as a true droid in her mind, a quick study. "It's a clever piece of engineering. You don't have repulsorlift technology and it can still fly. And it seems amusing enough. When it's not trying to roost in your hair."

"Birdy!"

Again Kira chuckled again after Birdy made its indignation at Leia's comment known. Even though it didn't have the processing power to simulate such emotion. "If you like Birdy, you'll love what he made for Lacus."

"What did he—?" before she could finish the question something small, round, and pink appeared in front of her face.

"Hello, hello!" greeted the infamous Mr. Pink as it bounced in front of Leia's face, using its mechanical flaps to achieve flight for several seconds before it fell back to the ground, bounced, and rolled back the way it came.

Again Leia paused and blinked in surprise at the interruption, not quite sure what to make of the pink thing.

Fortunately, Kira had gotten all of the laughter out of his system so he was prepared to explain it. "That was one of Lacus' Haros. She usually brings Mr. Pink with her wherever she goes. If its here than she should be close by."

Indeed Lacus wasn't more than twenty feet away, sitting on a park bench listening to the babble of Haro. She was giggling at something Haro had said when she finally noticed the two. She looked at the two with her usual demure smile. "Hello, Kira," she said immediately, walking up to the young man.

The two gave each other a quick hug and kiss, after which Lacus focused her attention on Leia. "Hello, Princess Leia. I hope you had a good evening with President White and Mr. Schenberg. Tell me, was it profitable?" She asked while extending her hand.

Leia grasped Lacus' hand in what she knew was a customary greeting, a hand that looked petite and held her own gently yet still felt stronger than it looked, in what she knew was a customary greeting. But it wasn't Lacus' hand that Leia was thinking about; it was how Lacus used the word profitable.

"Yes, I did have a good and profitable evening," Leia admitted somewhat carefully. "Right now I am trying to decide if I should be surprised that you already know or not."

"Neither gentleman intended to keep the matter secret," said Lacus as she sat back down, patting the seat beside her in invitation to Leia who accepted. "Mr. Schenberg is a large supporter of Terminal, which is the organization from which we selected your escorts. All of my counterparts are aware of the deal they intended to offer. Most of them consider it a risky venture for the reasons stated at the negotiations. However, I don't feel there's any risk at all."

"Oh, you don't believe that I and the people I work for won't use your technology to develop an army with which to conquer your planet?"

"Nope," said Lacus. "And that's because I trust Kira who is an exceptional judge of character, or at least he has come to be."

Leia spared a brief glance to the young man, reminded of the unusual mental sensation that she always felt when near him, even now.

"However," continued Lacus, "as important as that meeting was, it is not what I wish to discuss." She held out her hand and Kira gave her a folder. "A short while ago, a number of objects appeared within a thousand kilometers of where your ship and the imperial ship first appeared. When contact was made with one it exploded, which is believed to have been a self-destruct. I assume you're familiar with them."

Leia was given several flimsiplast with pictures on them depicting numerous objects floating in space. It took Leia a moment to recognize them in the two-dimensional format but it came to her.

"Imperial probe droids." Concern heavily laced in her voice. "Scouting droids that travel through hyperspace and transmit their findings back to the ship that launched them. The Empire is looking for us, and it would seem that they found us."

Both Kira and Lacus visibly frowned. "I was afraid you would say something like that."

"But there is some hope, however," continued Leia. "My people have been unable to contact the outside galaxy. Something is messing with our holocom system. It could also interfere with those probe droids' own holocom system."

"That's a big if to bet on," Kira pointed out. "And even if the probe droids haven't managed to send something out, we should make our move on the assumption that they know where we are."

"There could still be some hope. The Empire is a massive organization, and sometimes the ambitions of one will leave the rest uninformed. The information could have been stopped after it reached an individual who wished to use it to their advantage, even if it had reached an admiral. The Emperor is known to award those who show initiative in carrying out standing orders. Destroying an enemy force would fall into that category for an admiral." Leia paused and considered the possibilities. "Either way this is not a good situation. I need to get back to Alderaan, get in touch with my people, and begin damage control. If luck is on our side, the situation can be salvaged to protect both your world and the Alliance."

This could be considered good news but Lacus still frowned as she considered all that was being said. "In the end, though, you're still telling us to expect another war," she said dejectedly.

"I'm sorry," said Leia sincerely. "It's because of us coming to your system that you have become involved."

"What's done is done," said Lacus. "All that we can do now is to prepare for the future. A future filled with more war. I just wish that there were other options besides fighting."

Kira came up behind Lacus and gently took her in his arms. "It's OK, Lacus. We'll try any solution we can think of to prevent the fighting. As long as we sincerely try for peace… But we must prepare for battle." Kira turned his head to look at Leia. "Princess, can your people provide us with tactical data of the likely composition of an enemy fleet, as well as data on where they will likely appear? Can you tell us if they are likely to use nuclear weapons and what defenses they have prepared for such attacks?"

"Kira!" Exclaimed Lacus in shock, instantly aware of what Kira was thinking. "We can't!"

"We may not have a choice, Lacus. More than half of the Earth Sphere's mobile suits were destroyed in the war and since its end only a handful of new ones were built, and there have been no new warships. If the Empire does come here to fight, it will be my first duty to protect everyone, using all available resources. Even those."

Lacus wanted to protest but when you considered the reported strength that this Empire wielded, not even she could deny such logic. Though she was a woman who would fight to protect peace, she detested the thought of resorting to such weapons.

For her part, Leia was trying her best to recall some of the knowledge about military equipment that she hopefully knew. "It will be impossible to tell the size or composition of an imperial fleet without prior data. It will be based on whatever the commander feels is needed. I can tell you that most Admirals prefer to have at least four lines of battle for fleet actions, each line being composed of several smaller ships or one _Imperial_ Star Destroyer. Then there will be the combat support ships for each battle line. And they won't use weapons based on nuclear fission. While powerful, they aren't considered efficient. As for the rest of the data I'll need to go back to my ship to prepare it."

"Thank you," said Kira. "We'll ensure that the representatives and your ship will be ready to go soon."

* * *

**Planet: Earth,**

**System: Sol,**

**Sector: Unregistered,**

**Region: Unknown Regions**

**Star Destroyer **_**Mangle**_

Tristan was sitting in his cabin. His rank didn't rate private quarters but his roommates were out on duty allowing him the time to use the cabin to hold a meeting. A meeting to discuss a recent development of the plans for mutiny that Tristan had pretty much become the organizer and leader of.

Though considering the new development, the mutiny may not have to take place.

"So a large number of probe droids have appeared in-system," he muttered to himself as he looked over the data on the datapad. "Were they able to send any signal out?" He asked of the warrant officer who worked communications.

"Not that I know of sir. Because of the nature of probe droids they have a rather unique set of transmitters that make it harder to detect any transmissions it sends, and harder to block them as well. At the very least a single probe droid has a better chance of getting something out-system than we have with our shoddily repaired systems."

"Either way their presence is a boon for us," said Tristan as he analyzed the situation. "Someone out there knows of this location."

"But if they don't get anything from the droids they won't come," said the third individual to attend this update meeting, a military captain in charge of the sergeants. "They'll think they were destroyed."

"They could send a follow up team," countered the warrant officer. "And it wouldn't be too long after that a rescue would be mounted."

The captain was about to bark out a response but Tristan raised a hand for silence.

"The droids may have gotten a signal out-system or they might not have. There may be some form of rescue attempt, there might not. Either way for the good of the crew we have to operate under the assumption that the situation is still the same. Captain, have you determined the security situation?"

"Yeah, according to my men that play sabacc with the ship's security personal they're only going to follow the guys in charge. However most of the ground troops dislike the current situation and their feelings are starting to boil over. The ship isn't carrying a full complement of ground troops but we certainly outnumber security. Once the preparations are complete we can take this ship anytime."

"Good, if that's all than this meeting is adjourned. Tell the others in your department to stick to the plan and keep an ear to the assigned comm. channel in case there's an emergency. I'll make sure to inform the other officers involved."

* * *

**Planet: Ord Mantell  
System: Bright Jewel system  
Sector: Bright Jewel Cluster  
Region: Mid Rim Territories bordering Wild Space**

**Star Destroyer **_**Venomous Fang**_

Admiral Davros gazed out the bridge viewport, studying the sight before him. Seemingly sitting completely still out in space, visible from the bridge of the _Venomous Fang_ were a single _Strike _-class cruiser, two _Carrack_-class light cruisers, and one of the new _Lancer_-class anti-starfighter frigates. Davros also knew that in addition to these four ships there were another three _Imperial_-class Star Destroyers like his own flagship, another two _Strikes_, three _Carracks_, two _Dreadnaught_ heavy cruisers, and two _Victory_ Star Destroyers.

It was a well balanced fleet, and Davros smiled as he imagined the destruction the seventeen ships would rain down on the rebel ships. Already he had a basic battle plan formed and relayed to the fleet commanders. It was a simple one that can be easily adapted to changing situations.

Finally word came from the group of shuttles sent to scout the route up to the first rendezvous point. These scouts would blaze the trail for the fleet up to the final leg of the trip, ensuring the route was safe. It would take a little longer but it was for the best. After all it was far less embarrassing to lose a few shuttles to a hyperspace related accident than to lose an entire fleet.

With a quick nod of conformation to communications he ordered the fleet to move out.

* * *

**Read and Review**


	4. Chapter 4

**Growth of a Seed**

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions  
Support Ship **_**Eternal**_

Kira walked onto the bridge of the _Eternal_, where he was greeted by the ship's captain, Andrew Waltfeld, who was standing over a newly installed tactical board.

"Hey, kid," greeted the senior officer in his usual relaxed manner as he sipped some coffee. "What are you doing up here? I'd thought you'd be on the moon with Lacus." He took a small sip and smiled appreciatively, "Mmm that is some good coffee."

"I would prefer being back on the moon, but because of the recent development everyone's been put on alert. Didn't you get the orders?"

"Of course I did kid; I even received the data on current ship positions and mobile suit strength. I just figured that with Lacus being the Supreme Chairwoman and you being in charge of her security…" Waltfeld let the thought trail off. He didn't need to say anymore, and it would have been reasonable for Kira to stay with her.

"Security in Copernicus City is as tight as it's ever been, so Lacus should be safe there without me. We decided that my skills would be of better use here near the Freedom. Now what's the situation?"

Andy put down his cup and called up a presentation he already prepared that showed the information he had just received.

"Since the arrival of our first visitors, most military forces here in space began moving. Currently the two largest forces are the Eurasians at Artemis base, and the Solomon asteroid base that was built during Durandal's administration. After that everyone is pretty spread out. ZAFT has ships patrolling the entire Earth Sphere; Orb currently has four ships stationed here at Copernicus City with another two at Ame-no-Mihashira; the Republic of East Asia and the South African Union are spread throughout the L4 region where they've been trying to bring some of the abandoned colonies back online. The Atlantic Federation, well that's not looking good."

"They got hit pretty hard in the last war didn't they, so what do they have left?"

"About a single fleet's worth, most of which are scattered around the AF's supply bases that are here on the moon, the ones that are being overhauled to make up for their lack of a central base."

"What about the Terminal fleet?"

"As if you didn't know," said Andrew as he brought up new statistics. "Most of the ship's that attacked Requiem returned to their home fleets, though each nation did send us a handful of ships and mobile suits, crewed and piloted by volunteers. The biggest donator of course was President White, after his investigations turned up all of those secret LOGOS storehouses hiding all of those ships that were supposedly decommissioned after the first war to adhere to treaty limitations. However, while we got the ships and mobile suits, the AF kept the mobile armors and that _Girty Lue_-class battleship they found."

* * *

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions  
****Corellian Corvette **_**Tantive IV**_

The _Tantive IV_ was currently flying above the surface of the moon several kilometers out from Copernicus City. Aboard the rebel ship, the crew was going through diagnostics of the engine to ensure they were ready to head out the following local day. Currently, everything seemed to be going just fine with the Earth-made parts and they were on schedule, so they were heading back into dock. All in all, Antilles thought it was a good day. Until the sensor officer spoke.

"Sir, I'm picking up Imperial ID beacons! Seventeen military ships have just appeared in-system!"

Antilles felt like growling in frustration at their luck, but being the professional soldier he kept his personal opinion in check and began considering options. '_Seventeen ships, that's taskforce size. A large taskforce but not as bad as it could have been._' "Sensors, are they within line-of-sight?"

"Yes sir, the Imperial ships came out of hyperspace near the estimated entry vector and are currently decelerating. At their current rate they'll be here at the moon in an hour."

Antilles considered the options for the ship and immediately discarded any that involved direct combat. The _Tantive IV_ was a diplomatic ship and retained only two duel turbolaser cannons that were more for scaring off pirates than anything else. They also couldn't run because the princess was still in the city, and it would make them look bad to the people of Earth. That left only one viable option where they could be useful.

"Get us back to the city ASAP! And get as much information about the Imperials' ship composition! The least we can do is provide them with as much information as possible on what those ships can do and possible weaknesses to be exploited!"

* * *

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions  
Star Destroyer **_**Venomous Fang**_

The Imperial ships jumped out of hyperspace and began deceleration at a rate that would allow them adequate time to get sensor readings of the system. After a fifteen minute scan using long range sensors, Davros was scowling in frustration as he was given an overview of the situation.

When preparing for this action, Davros had expected to find some backwater, sparsely populated if not uninhabited world, where the only source of technology and hyperdrive-equipped ships belonged to the rebels. In other words, the kind of planet favored by the Rebel Alliance to be used as a military base. Add in a few frigates, corvettes, and maybe an old cruiser that the rebels had managed to scrounge and make serviceable again, not to mention several squadrons of starfighters, and you had the perfect place to trap an old _Victory_ Star Destroyer.

Because of the seeming communications blackout around the system and the successful elimination of an enemy ship, the rebels had no reason to evacuate till the probe droids entered in system. Given the amount of time that had passed, he suspected that the rebels would have been preparing either a second trap or, more likely, an evacuation that Davros's ships would have jumped into the middle of.

Either situation would have worked for Davros's plan. And that was to have the four _Imperial_ Star Destroyers and the _Lancer_ move in as the main attack force under the cover of a screen of fighters. While the Star Destroyers would form the main space attack force, a group of troop and vehicle shuttles, under the protection of a squadron of fighters and bombers and the three _Strike_ cruisers, which were configured for ground assaults, would move onto the planet and attack the rebel base once it was found, and they would destroy everything that remained. The remaining ships and their starfighters would form a perimeter to prevent any rebels from escaping.

But that plan was currently moot since that was not what they found.

Instead they found a fully inhabited system with hundreds of artificial constructs orbiting the planet which was virtually unreadable to the sensors beyond the life form detectors (completely useless in this sort of situation). One of his ships found traces of a particle trail left from a ship and the analysis said that whatever was flying around did not use ion engines. All in all, it was bewildering and Davros hated to be bewildered. Now he had to think up of a new battle strategy.

'_This society is pretty built up, but they've had no contact with the Empire. And if that analysis is right, their technology isn't up to our level. So any ship analogue won't be comparable. Considering what happened to the _Mangle_, which was likely the rebels' doing, I could begin an invasion. I'd set up a forward base, and then send a runner out for additional troops and supplies. And the perfect location would be whatever is on their moon that is generating such a large power signal. However, the bureaucrats wouldn't be happy if I didn't at least try a diplomatic approach first. So I'll begin with talks and if it doesn't go the way I want, I'll take action._

Davros gave the command, ordering the ships into new positions for their run on the moon. Though as the taskforce made the course corrections, he was alerted that five corvette and frigate-sized vessels were approaching the formation.

"Send the _Behemoth_ to intercept and keep them away from us as a rearguard. There will be no hostile actions until I give the order, unless defensive in nature."

* * *

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions  
Support Ship **_**Eternal**_

"Well, good thing we were on alert." Said Waltfeld as he went back to sipping his coffee while listening to the system wide alert. He took a look at the tactical board as new data was inputted. "ZAFT forces from Solomon and all military forces here at the moon have been ordered to intercept. Looks like we'll be moving out too."

"With the Sol Council assembled, they'll probably want Terminal to take command," said Kira. He briefly scanned the tactical board before touching an icon representing a group of military ships which were currently the closest to where the new arrivals appeared. When the information came up, the name of one of the ships stuck out at him. "That's the ship Shinn's assigned to."

"Really?" asked Andy as he took a look at the info, noting that the ships were currently a part of the Terminal fleet. Their composition was made of two _Nazca_, an _Agamemnon_, and two _Nelsons_. Then he saw the name of one of the _Nazca_. "Yeah, it sure is. It's also the one Lunamaria is on."

After the second war both Gundam pilots volunteered their services to Terminal, and thanks to Lacus, they retained possession of their mobile suits after the transfer. The two made a good team so they were kept together, though the Impulse had since been modified so that it could launch as a singular mobile suit. "Think they'll keep to the directive?"

"It's not them I'm worried about, it's Shinn. He means well but he can still be a bit hot-headed. But he should follow the directive to not take any action unless attacked first. So I expect he'll keep his cool."

* * *

Shinn growled in annoyance as he flew the Destiny back and forth between the imaginary borders that separated the Terminal taskforce from the trailing ship of the Imperial fleet, a monstrously huge ship that the new database identified as an _Imperial_-class Star Destroyer, which was deliberately flying to position itself in front of their own ships, even if it so far kept its backside to them. And if the Terminal taskforce tried splitting up then their path would be blocked by groups of those small, ridiculous-looking mobile armors of theirs, those TIE Fighters.

There were a lot of them and they kept flying around the Star Destroyer in V-shape formations like birds. Though, personally, Shinn thought they looked more like a bunch of buzzing flies.

Shinn would have liked nothing more than to take his Arondight sword and slice the interlopers to pieces, but that would be going against direct orders.

"Man, this is annoying," he grumbled.

"_Well there's nothing we can do_," said Lunamaria as her Impulse slid up alongside the Destiny. "_As long as they don't initiate any hostile actions, we're not allowed to do anything that could lead to conflict._"

"Yeah, I know," replied Shinn. "Still, the waiting is really getting on my nerves. I mean what if that whole 'talk request' they're broadcasting is just a hoax to get close?" He asked in reference to the periodic repeating message that was being broadcast from the fleet in such a manner that just about anybody with any sort of receiving equipment could pick it up.

"_Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But it gives us time to gather the fleet, and if it is real, it may prevent a war._" Though that was what she said, there was no real conviction in Lunamaria's voice. In the time since the rebel ship had come into dry-dock; no one had tried to prevent the crew from mingling with the residents of Copernicus, though they were discreetly watched at all times. Because of that, word was spreading about this battle between the Empire and the Rebellion. And everyone was getting the distinct impression that any interaction involving those two organizations would get bloody and that anyone caught in the middle had to pick a side.

It was a situation no one liked, but at least the Rebels had been polite and were playing by Earth's rules. It was time to see if the Imperials would play ball.

* * *

Dozens of kilometers above the surface of the northern pole of Earth's single moon two fleets stood off from one another several kilometers apart.

The size and composition of the fleets varied drastically. On one side were dozens of native ships arrayed in a grid formation. On the other were just seventeen ships, most of which out-massed the ships of the other fleet, ten times over in the case of four of the ships.

Between the two fleets, starfighters and mobile suits flew as interdiction barriers between the fleets.

Aboard his flagship, Admiral Davros waited for the promised transmission from the leader of this world. As the appointed time drew near, his comm. officer spoke up.

"Sir, we are being hailed."

"Put it through."

The communications holo-projector lit up, the blue tinted light taking form. The form of a young woman. When Davros saw this, his eyebrow cocked in curiosity as to who this is.

"_Greetings, Admiral Davros, I am Chairwoman Lacus Clyne, the chosen representative to speak with you._"

Davros scowled as he answered, "What is this? I requested that this planet's leader be presented to me."

"_Our world has several leaders, Admiral, among whom I was selected to represent us._"

Davros twitched as he tried to reign in his annoyance. "This is ridiculous. If you have multiple leaders than I demand to speak with whoever has seniority. I can't even imagine why someone like you would have been chosen in the first place."

_**Flashback**_

The world leaders had reconvened in the chambers of the Sol Council, hotly discussing the latest development.

They were trying to decide how to proceed with the Admiral's request to speak with the planet's leader. Should they go as a group or select one as a representative?

Eventually, President White turned to Princess Leia, who was present as a consultant and asked, "Have any suggestions?"

Leia didn't even need a moment to think before she explained, "The Admiral would probably respond best to whichever man here leads the strongest nation. I can't guarantee that he will respond with respect or courtesy, but that would be the sort of individual he will respond best to."

That came off a bit confusing so White asked her to elaborate on why it wouldn't simply be the leader of the strongest nation.

"Palpatine's New Order has a noticeable doctrine of discrimination against non-humans and women, especially in the military branches of the Empire. While I can't say anything about this Admiral's beliefs, it is best to err on the side of caution. Also, many Imperials respect the distinction of merit."

"Is that so," muttered White. "If that's the case, then I nominate Lacus Clyne to represent us."

"What?" Princess Leia asked in shock at how the president of the AF just put forward a nominee that pretty much went against her suggestion. She wasn't the only one to voice such confusion.

"It's really quite simple," he said. "It would be easier to gauge the intent of this admiral if we were to present him with a situation that, if the princess is right, should put him on edge. Though I fear that if pushed, he will attack, such an outcome is one we were prepared to accept should the Empire be as the princess has told us."

His reasoning was sound to the others, and though they disliked the idea of a battle they knew their respective forces were prepared for one. This upcoming meeting could very well be the test that would determine which side the people of Earth could take arms with should they choose to involve themselves in the rest of the galaxy.

Princess Leia then led Lacus to the _Tantive IV_ where they could use the holo-comm. to make communication easier.

_**Flashback End**_

"_Be that as it may, Admiral,_" said Lacus sternly, "_I was the one chosen for my capabilities. By our standards, I am the best suited for this job, so the decision of my appointment is final._"

Davros snorted in annoyance at how he was addressed by a girl that couldn't even be half his age. "Very well then, 'Chairwoman' was it? I am here concerning the matter of the _Mangle_, a ship that is currently in distant orbit around this planet in ruin with what appears to be your ships guarding it, and the rebel vessel it was chasing. And before you answer, Chairwoman, I should warn you that because of the state of the _Mangle_ and the presence of your people in this system, this allows me to make certain assumptions which allow me to order an invasion of this planet. Which I will, if the outcome of our talk is unsatisfactory. In fact it should be noted that a considerable portion of the men under my command have become a tad twitchy over the condition of their compatriots, and without shields your vessels won't be able to defend against the power of mine."

"_That sounds like a threat, Admiral. You should know that it was the captain of your ship that fired on my people first._"

'_Of course he did._' "Take it however you will, Chairwoman. The fact remains that you have become highly involved in Imperial military affairs. As an admiral of the Imperial Navy, I hereby demand that you order your people to stand down so that we may retrieve our personnel and that you hand over any criminals you are harboring."

The Chairwoman didn't say anything for a few moments, giving the admiral the impression that she was being fed lines.

"_The governments of Earth do not recognize your Imperial authority here. We are not harboring any criminals, but we will allow you to rescue your people stranded in this system under the condition that you leave immediately afterward and leave us in peace._"

Like a hunter that had caught his prey, Davros smiled and bared his teeth. "You just made a mistake Chairwoman. As soon as we were close enough we tagged the ID signal of a ship on your moon, hidden from our sight. Currently the name and vessel type is restricted from us, but that's only possible if the systems had been given illegal modifications. And that's something no loyal and honest son of the Empire would ever do. I warned of what would happen should I be dissatisfied, and I really hate being lied to." With a subtle gesture he signaled the gunnery control officer who relayed a preset order to one of the turbolaser control stations.

Within moments one of the forward turbolaser batteries let loose several volleys of deadly green energy directed straight into the heart of the enemy fleet, only for the turbolaser bolts to impact harmlessly against a grid of energy deployed from an array on one of their smallest ships.

From the holo-projection, Lacus Clyne sighed and looked depressed. "_I was hoping that this could be resolved peacefully. I am sorry if my words displeased you, but you've gone too far with your hostile action. If you do not leave and leave us in peace, we will be forced to defend ourselves._"

Davros was too busy to give the chairwoman more than a glance as he kept an ear to his officer's reports on battle strength and positions. "Hmph, I don't know who took out the _Mangle_. But you'll find battling my fleet will not be the same as taking out a single old _Victory_-class, captained by a man that was less than competent. I suspect that I'll be seeing you in person soon, Chairwoman, as I accept your offerings of surrender." With that parting remark, he cut off communications and turned to the emerging battle.

* * *

A fleet-wide communiqué alerted the Earth fleet to engage in combat using their current battle plan. They were aware that the mobility of their mobile suits and the power of their beam weapon gave them an advantage against the Empire's starfighters, which numbered over 350, and against the larger ships. So the mobile suits would be charged with front-line combat against the Imperial forces. However, avoiding attacks from so many direction while trying to bring down the shields would be a real pain.

Their own ships would stay in protective clusters centering on positron reflector equipped _Drake_-class escorts acting as a protective barrier to provide the mobile suits support and resupply, with the faster more powerful ships running between groups to take pot shots at the enemy. Thanks to the data they had, they were aware that the Imperial ships not only had shields, but also were faster than their own and more heavily armed. While a mass ship attack could defeat one of the Empire's, they would lose more than a few lives.

Unless a ship had laminated armor it wouldn't take very many turbolaser blasts to compromise hull integrity, and without a positron blaster cannon it would simple take too long to bring down the shields. So ships such as the _Archangel _and the _Izumo_-class battleships would be the only ships venturing beyond the protective positron reflector barrier. Otherwise this battle would be in the hands of the mobile suit pilots.

* * *

Kira Yamato flew as a vanguard in the Strike Freedom, Athrun and the Infinite Justice alongside him. Though neither had done any fighting since the end of the last war, they were still amongst the best, and their Gundams kept just ahead of the slower, less powerful mobile suits.

As the first wave of TIEs approached, Kira launched the Freedom's DRAGOONs and unleashed an attack with the mobile suit's Full Burst mode. The Gundam's numerous beams clipping just as many TIEs, while the Justice destroyed another handful. Though over twelve of the starfighters had been taken out, Kira became unhappy when he saw how attacks that would have disabled a mobile suit caused these machines to fly out of control until they crashed into something or exploded on their own.

'_They're too fragile for me to fight the way I want. So be it then._' It was time to switch to plan B. "Athrun, can you deal with these TIEs while I go back for the METEOR?"

"_No problem Kira_," replied Athrun as the Justice kicked a TIE out of its way like a soccer ball.

With the mobile suit's speed, it didn't even take a few minutes for the Freedom to get back to where the _Eternal_ was stationed, and the METEOR unit was already being undocked.

"_Figured at least one of you guys would be coming back for one of these._" Said Waltfeld, always a step ahead of others.

Kira gave his thanks as he docked with the high-mobility heavy weapons platform, immediately rocketing off with the three DOM Trooper mobile suits following him as an escort. Kira's target was one of the four _Imperial_ Star Destroyers that was trying to batter down one of the positron deflectors.

With Hilda Harken, Mars Simeon, and Herbert Von Reinhardt watching his back Kira didn't bother worrying about the TIE's buzzing about as he took aim at the top of the massive ship's main body, unloading the METEOR's 77 Erinaceus anti-ship missile launchers and four high energy beam cannons into the massive battleship. The Star Destroyer's shields had already been weakened from a long-range missile bombardment and completely collapsed from Kira's attack. But Kira wasn't finished with just that. Activating the METEOR's massive beam sabers he flew down from above, ramming the energy blades through the ship's armor. Like he did to the O'Neal colonies at the end of the Second War, he flew along the surface, neatly bisecting the ship. Explosions trailed his blades as they severed power connections and other sensitive equipment beneath the armored surface of the ship.

Completing his pass, Kira took off taking one last work at his handy work. The ship was still in one piece, if barely, and the majority of the forward section had gone dead from loss of power, with visible fluctuations in the lighting system happening throughout the rest of the ship.

At that moment the three DOMs attacked the stern of the damaged ship, systematically reducing the primary shield generators and engines to little more than melted circuitry, blackened slag, and disassembled particles.

With one major threat down, it was time to move onto another.

* * *

The moment the signal had been sent from the Admiral's flagship, Imperial pilot Lieutenant Kial began his mission. Gathering his squadron, which included a total of eight TIE Fighters and 4 TIE bombers, he led them in a steep dive towards the moon's surface at a near reckless speed. Once close to the surface they kicked in their repulsorlifts which bounced them away from the moon's surface and keeping them from crashing. Now only half a dozen meters away from the surface of the moon they began terrain flying maneuvers. Their destination was whatever was producing the large energy signature on the surface.

The Imperials weren't sure exactly what it was because at several hundred kilometers even long range sensors could only tell them so much. But with so much energy it had to be important.

As the squadron traveled along the moon's surface, several weak signals appeared on the sensors, grew stronger, and then faded, indicating that there were other energy sources that were better shielded. But there were only cursory concerns; their orders were to attack the large and obvious source.

What that source was became apparent as it appeared on the horizon. It was a large dome, its purpose Kial could only guess at. "Decelerate and arm weapons," the lieutenant ordered. Glancing over at his instruments and frowned seeing how the majority of his external sensors were useless. '_Though with a target that large and that close, we probably won't need a targeting lock. But if something could get the jump on us. Best finish this fast._' "We'll be using standard strafing procedure. Bombers soften the target with concussion missiles, and then pound them with proton bombs. Fighters go after targets of opportunity and stay on your wing. Bombers fire on my mark… three, two, one Mark!"

Firing two missiles each, eight concussion missiles raced out ahead of the bombers trailing a quickly dispersing propellant smoke. These models were high-yield nuclear warheads that were far more destructive than a single turbolaser shot with armor penetrating tips.

However Kial and his pilots found that no sooner had the order had been complied with than projectors rose from the metal supports of the dome, emitting positron energy.

The concussion missiles struck the energy barrier with surprisingly small explosions for missiles of their caliber.

Kial didn't have the time to ponder why the warheads did not go off, not as he saw the machines gathering near the base of the dome. There were close to twenty gathering, most humanoid, some with blue torsos, some that were grey and had large crests on their heads, and one larger machine that looked like it was modeled after an insect. '_They must have been alerted by their fleet._' "Fighters, evasive maneuvers. Bombers get over that dome and use proton bombs. Pound it until that shield gone and the dome is rubble."

Logically Kial thought that the next move would be to swing around the dome away from its defenders and hit ground near the dome's edge and hopefully damage some power conduits that are keeping the shield up. However than the enemy ground forces would regroup and for all he knew there were more stashed on the other side just in case his squadron did perform that exact maneuver. And subconsciously his pride as an Imperial pilot couldn't turn down this clear invitation to battle, and he couldn't conceive of losing to ground-pounders.

As two of the bombers and one of his fighters exploded in fiery masses of burnt fuel and munitions, he should have stopped and conceived that thought of defeat, because those ground-pounders were good. Though the Fighters had broken off from the frontal charge so that they could get into a more advantageous firing position while avoiding running into a wall of enemy attacks, the high mobility of the enemy units made them tough foes, much tougher than an attack from Imperial walkers.

That was apparent as one of the crested machines jumped into the air with a rocket propelled leap, the muzzle of its weapon flashing. Kial's early warning system didn't even have time to sound as his starfighter rocked violently as solid rounds struck the underside armor with immense force. His ship was thrown off course, alarms blaring as he fought to control his Fighter. Whatever hit him didn't fully penetrate, but his readouts were telling him that there was considerable internal damage. Power couplings had been knocked out of alignment; several small cracks in the hull had caused damage to the circuitry and shorted several minor systems. So busy was he that he failed to notice the brief green flash of light before his ship exploded.

* * *

At the fringe of the Imperial formation, aboard the _Carrack_-class cruiser _Slasher_, Captain Fuugee was trying to make sense of the situation.

"What in the name of the Empire is that!" He shouted to his sensor officer after watching his ship's initial volley of turbolasers and ion bolts get stopped short by an energy barrier. "Those ships aren't supposed to have shields. So how can such a little ship be capable of making such a powerful shield?"

"I don't know sir," responded a nervous ensign. In the Empire, it was never a good thing to be asked a question by a superior and answer with an 'I don't know.' "I'm trying to get a lock on the energy signature to figure out what type of shield that is, but all of the ship's sensors are being disrupted. Anything beyond several dozen meters is reading as sketchy and incoherent, and we aren't reading anything beyond two kilometers. Our targeting computers can't get a stable firing solution on the enemy."

"Then aim manually!" snapped the captain.

"Sir," called the communications officer, "we've lost contact with the flagship CIC."

"Was the _Venomous Fang_ destroyed or is it jamming!"

"It's broad spectrum jamming, sir. I'm boosting power to the signal and am running through a frequency modulation program. But so far I can only get in contact with ships and starfighters in extremely close range, and that connection is shaky at best. It's like whatever is jamming us is actually destroying the radio waves."

That was a possibility that made the captain and just about every other person on the bridge grimace. There was a set of protocols in place for just such events. Protocols that said if standard communications could not be restored they were to establish a communications relay network, via any means possible. However this was an inefficient system where on average at least forty percent of all messages were lost and TIE pilots were often left out of the loop unless some of them could be serviced as message carriers.

"Incoming missiles!" shouted the sensors officer as his equipment finally detected several incoming missiles, barely visible through the forward viewport in the vastness of space.

Six missiles slammed against the bow shields, the light coalescing as the shield absorbed and distributed the energy. The force of the explosions, when compared to most missile ordnance the Imperials were used to, was small. According to a holographic readout of the ship, the bow shields had barely lost ten percent and could be quickly recovered. If they had the time to recharge that is.

"Enemy fighters," called the same sensor officer as three machines flew into view, machines that were likely the source of the missiles. Their aerodynamic design and wings gave the incoming fighters the distinct appearance of practical aircraft. And that was strange given everything else the natives were flying.

The three fighters swooped into an attack run on the _Carrack's_ bow, green darts of energy firing into the shields, chipping it down like turbolaser blasts.

The _Slasher's_ forward guns rotated and opened fired upon the incoming machines, though such attacks are rarely effective against nimble fighters. The situation became worse when the machines shifted and transformed into winged, man-like machines and their agility increased greatly.

Soon the three machines were right next to the hull of the ship, just outside the weakened shield. As one, the three enemy fighters pulled out a new weapon that ignited into large pink blades of energy.

The captain of the _Slasher_ had served in the Clone Wars and the moment he saw those weapons only two thoughts went through his head. The first was a simple exclamation of fear as old memories surfaced from the one time he had seen a Jedi fight on the ground. '_Lightsabers!_' The second thought was more morbid as he recalled a conversation he once had with fellow fleet officers back in the old days, a conversation that focused on speculating on whether or not a lightsaber could be used effectively against a shielded ship.

He was about find out the answer as one of the pink sabers smashed in the bow shield in front of the forward viewport. The viewport's photoreceptive properties kicked in and darkened as intense light appeared as a reaction between shield and saber. "Are the shields holding!"

"No, sir! It's eating through the shields! They'll be down in…" the ensign reporting the shield's strength took only a quick glance at his monitor before practically leaping out of his seat and running for the bridge entrance, which was enough warning for the rest of the crew to run. But it was too late as the shield failed and the saber punched through, gouging clear through the bridge, vaporizing and roasting anything within.

The other two Murasames delivered similar cuts to the engines and the belly of the ship. The explosion of the engines violently rocked the ship as atmosphere rapidly escaped through the belly slash. Mission completed, the Murasames flew away to find a new target, leaving the crew of the sinking ship to fend for themselves.

Fortunately for those who survived, the _Carrack_-class has outstanding safety features.

* * *

Athrun Zala was getting a little annoyed with the TIE Fighters that the Empire used. Why? Because the darned things were so freaking fast. Making it difficult for the Infinite Justice to get close enough to use its beam blades, and close range combat was where his Gundam excelled. At first it was easy, with the N-Jammers active the starfighters' pilots had to fight at ranges he was used to, meaning that he could easily get at them as they used their preferred tactics of either charging in suicidal from the front, or getting on his tail to shoot him in the back. Both tactics were easily countered thanks to his suit's mobility and beam shields. The problem was after he had taken down a couple of TIE's like that; someone had wised up and ordered the others to stay away from 'the bright red machine.'

Now they were playing a game of tag where the TIEs would charge him in groups and then run when they got within fifty meters, forcing Athrun to hunt them down with his beam cannons. This new tactic, a combination of hit and run and massed attack, was finally scoring the Empire some kills, but at a rate where they lost two or three units for every mobile suit they took down. By all means the Justice was above average to the any mass-produced mobile suit in terms of long-range offense and speed, but it's annoying to any pilot when they can't draw out the full potential of their machine.

That's why Athrun left the TIE hunting to a group of GOUFs and Murasames and went after a target that couldn't run from him. Like Kira, he turned his attention to one of the _Imperial_ Star Destroyers.

Instead of committing a full frontal charge with guns blazing, Athrun swung around behind the massive ship, shooting down any TIEs that tried to get in his way. When he was free from the pests Athrun flew up behind the twin globes of the primary shield generator and pulled out his two beam sabers, using both to tear down the shields and slash through the globes at the same time.

With the shields gone, the missile bombardment the nearest Earth ships had been peppering the Star Destroyer with were finally taking effect, albeit slowly considering the size of the target. So Athrun gave them a hand by detaching the Fatum-01 subflight lifter, its beam blades activated, and remote sending it through the 'neck' of the command tower. As it came out the other side and back to Athrun miniature explosions could be seen from the damage of critical power systems. Soon lights throughout the entire command tower shut off, indicating loss of power. The glow of the engines died and the turbolasers that remained firing became erratic after the loss of the primary computer core that supplied and coordinated sensor data.

The head of the beast was dead and soon the thrashings of its body would end.

* * *

On another part of the battlefield, a squadron a TIE's flew head to head against a group of three Euclids, the larger mobile armors using their positron deflectors to protect themselves from the smaller, faster starfighter's laser bolts.

In the cockpit of the lead TIE fighter, the squadron commander grinned viscously as he spotted the lack of mobility for the enemy machines. He ordered his men to pass the targets and turn around to hit them from the rear.

In a span of seconds, the lead TIE passed over the lead Euclid, and was destroyed in a flash of green light from a Windam hiding behind the mobile armor, as did the three closest trailing TIEs. The remaining Fighters in the squadron had time to pull back but the trap was sprung as the six Aile equipped Windams appeared from their hiding places behind the Eulicds, firing into the enemy's broken formation.

* * *

Of all of the Imperial ships, it was the smallest, the _Lancer_-class frigate that was proving to be the most dangerous to the Earth mobile suits. The _Lancer_-class frigate was a ship designed purely for combating starfighters, meaning it was best suited for dealing with small, fast, and maneuverable targets. And while it lacked the shields, armor, and turbolasers for capital ship combat, its array of twenty quad-laser cannons and powerful engines made it a rancor to the smaller vessels.

This was why after several frustrating attempts by mobile suits to get close, resulting in several deaths, an _Izumo_-class battleship was approaching the _Lancer_. The course of the two ships had them on head to head course, and would pass each other in one minute, giving both ships an ideal vantage to launch a broadside into the other. And that was the last thing the _Lancer's_ captain wanted having lost his ship's escort of six TIE Bombers.

Without those Bombers to protect the _Lancer_ from enemy capital ships, the captain did not want to get his ship into a slugging match with a larger vessel. Quickly he ordered the helmsman to make a hard turn to starboard so that they could give the enemy a single broadside on the enemy's bow to slow them down while the _Lancer_ retreated into a more heavily defended part of the Imperial formation.

That decision, while conventionally sound for the Imperial Navy, was a mistake. The _Izumo_-class had little weapons to offer for a broadside, the designers choosing to make the primary weapons forward facing to allow maximum firepower while offering the smallest possible target profile. Thus once the _Lancer_ had its starboard side facing the _Izumo_, the Earth vessel fired its positron cannons, first one than the second instead of the usual tandem.

The positron energy of the first shot struck the electron based barrier of the _Lancer's_ shields, the two opposing particles completely neutralizing each other and leaving the _Lancer_ momentarily unprotected as the second shot completely bisected the ship.

With that threat gone, the _Izumo_ retreated to the safety of the nearest _Drake's_ positron deflector.

* * *

**(Scene written by Tellemicus Sundance)**

With a feral roar, Shinn spun his Gundam around, beam rifle blazing as he targeted five of the flimsy mobile armors, the five eyeball-shaped armors exploded in quick succession. Punching the throttle, he threw himself into a fast lunge towards another seven-man V-shape formation. The Destiny's Wings of Light shining beautifully and leaving a confusing trail of afterimages behind him. He almost smirked as some of the so-called 'TIE fighters' pilots began to panic and break away from his attacking form.

But not all of them did. Three of them continued on towards him, their beam cannons unleashing a wall of beam energy that would've been almost hazardous for most common mobile suits. Raising the Destiny's energy shield, he caught the energy that he was unable to dodge.

"You'll have to do much _better_ than that!" he growled towards the eyeball pilots as he continued to rapidly close the distance between them.

Realizing what his intentions were, the three starfighters quickly separated and scattered. Spinning the Destiny around quite easily with the AMBAC, Shinn once again targeted and fired, destroying all three within an instant.

"This is almost _too_ easy," he muttered to himself. "Compared to mobile suits, they may be faster but that's it." Despite himself, Shinn couldn't help but wish he was facing an opponent in a Gundam-like machine. At least then he _might_ have had a challenge!

A target lock! Using the AMBAC, Shinn spun the Destiny around as he raised his beam shield again. A pair of large green beams slammed into the energy shield with all the power and finesse of a freight train, not penetrating but most certainly sending the Gundam flying backwards a short distance.

"What the?" he cried out as he quickly reoriented his Gundam and faced the bastard who dared attack him. It was one of those monstrously large triangular warships, a Star Destroyer of the _Imperial_-class.

"So, you wanna fight me, huh?" he asked as he turned the Destiny to fully face the Star Destroyer. Grabbing the Arondight as he opened the Destiny's wings, he flared the engines and rocketed forward at speeds that were almost as fast as most of the galaxy's modern starfighters. "You're going down!"

It was then that he did something most people onboard the Imperial warship would've never thought possible. He easily dodged the incoming turbolaser fire and landed upon the very tip of the ship's bow hull, thrusting his beam sword down, penetrating the shield after a moment of resistance, and stabbing deeply into the thick armor as though it wasn't even there. With another roar, he blasted the engines again, causing him to drag the Arondight, tearing through the armor like tissues. He flew through a zigzagging pattern across the hull, shredding the warship.

After performing this for several seconds, he yanked the sword free and made a mad dash towards the nearest turbolaser turret that was trying to aim for him, Palma Fiocina glowing ominously. He slammed the Destiny's palm into and partially through the turret before pulling back and allowing the cannon to explode spectacularly.

Holstering the large beam sword, he sent the Destiny rocketing up towards the bridge. Evading the pitiful defensive fire with ease, he pulled his heavy cannon out and fired once he was level with the command tower. However, like he suspected based on the previous reports, the beam dissipated against an unseen barrier before it even came close to the structures. For just a split second, Shinn could only stare at the sight of the bridge personnel before him, not a single one of them wore a spacesuit. Did they actually have the arrogance to assume that their advanced technology would never fail them or were they just stupid to enter battle like that?

Shrugging off further questions of the level of intelligence that the rest of the galaxy possessed, Shinn switched weapons back to the beam sword. Dancing to the side to again evade the turbolasers, he flew off into an arc around the command tower, heading towards the shield generators. Flaring his Wings of Light again, he shot forward and delivered one slash to both gigantic spheres, causing each to explode violently in his passage.

Switching back to the beam cannon, he returned to his earlier position in front of the bridge and fired again. This time the high-energy weapon tore through the tower, punching a hole straight through to the back of the massive battleship's command tower. As he was pulling back to find a new target, Shinn didn't notice that his final shot at the Star Destroyer caused a chain reaction that sent the entire vessel ablaze.

* * *

In the Impulse, Lunamaria led a force of six ZAKUs equipped with various Wizard packs and four GOUFs toward two ships, a _Strike_ and _Dreadnought_-class cruiser respectively, that were sticking close to each other for defense.

Mentally, Lunamaria congratulated herself for taking a refresher course in battle tactics and command. She quickly recognized that the designs of the Imperial ships were well suited for unleashing megawatts of energy on their foes; it was a familiar design issue that led to two problems that had plagued old wooden sailing ships. First whenever they were in a position to bring the majority of their guns to bear on a target they presented the largest profile for the enemy to fire on. The second problem was that if a smaller faster target, like their mobile suits, got in between two bigger ships that were alongside each other, like the two Imperial ships were now, than the big ships were restricted from firing all of their guns for fear of hitting their ally.

Now as long as she and the GOUFs' pilots could keep the TIEs busy, the ZAKUs would be completely free to demolish the capital ships.

* * *

The ORB-01 Akatsuki flew through the inferno, its pilot Mu La Flaga, picking off enemy units one by one.

Of all of Earth's mobile suits the Akatsuki and its pilot were one of the deadlier combinations for fighting the small fast starfighters. Early in the battle a group had tried to swarm him, identifying his unique mobile suit as important. Though he dodged as his training induced instincts dictated there were 17 of the Fighters, and some of their lasers hit the Akatsuki, only to reflect off the mobile suit's "Yata-no-Kagami" anti-beam reflective armor. Their weapons were completely useless.

And with Mu's ability to finely control the 7 DRAGOON pods and an uncanny knack to predict where his opponents will be he was a shark among fish.

* * *

The captain of one of the _Carrack_ class cruisers was trying to play it smart, maneuvering his vessel so that it could be used for its intended purpose, anti-capital ship combat. Since his turbolasers and ion cannons couldn't get through those shield walls, he simply ordered his helmsman to fly around it. Those ships weren't firing their missile bombardment at his ship so its shields were free to catch attacks as it moved into position.

Once the _Carrack_ was around the barrier, it was met with a surprise before it could open fire.

A surprise in the form of an YMAF-X6BD Zamza-Zah, positron reflectors active, smashing into the side of the Imperials' ship. Throughout the various ship formations, there were surviving prototype mobile armors, backed by Euclids for just such an occasion.

The respective energy barriers clashed against each other, trying to cancel the other out. The discharges of energy caused by the clashing barriers played merry havoc with the sensors of the two machines, but that was just fine for the crew of the Zamza-Zah. As planned, at that moment the crew of the _Carrack_ was shunting power into the area of the shields where the Zamza-Zah remained pushing into the ship, and with its sensors blinded they never saw the GuAIZ R, Dagger L, and Astray mobile suits that had been kept as a reserve defense force approach the ship, flying around to the opposite side of where the Zamza-Zah was.

With its shield energy being diverted to keep the Zamza-Zah off, its remaining sections were weakened. The old model mobile suits took advantage of this weakness and fired their beam rifles, concentrating the beams around the engines and main power generator. Their attack quickly collapsed the shield in that area and soon the engine section was been decimated, looking a lot worse than Swiss cheese.

With the _Carrack's_ power running low, all of its shields dropped, leaving it defenseless as the Zamza-Zah fired two of its Gamzatov multi-phase energy cannons into it, dealing the death blow.

* * *

The battle was lost to the Imperials. Their capital ships were wrecked and their starfighter force was essentially annihilated. What remained struggled to put up a fight but it was clearly a futile effort.

It was in this situation when the running lights began blinking rapidly along the edge of the remains of a heavily damaged _Imperial_ Star Destroyer.

By luck Captain Antilles caught sight of this on the holoprojecter. Without wasting a moment he got on the communications system. "Get away from the Star Destroyer! It's self-detonating!"

* * *

**Star Destroyer **_**Mangle**_

From the secondary bridge of the disabled _Mangle,_ Tristan Palleon watched the battle. Not through the viewports of course, which the battle was only tiny indistinct flashes of light. He and the rest of the personnel on the bridge were watching through a new long-range camera the ship's engineers had been able to build in their spare time. The camera was projecting a holoimage across the front of the secondary bridge allowing all those within to view the intense battle in somewhat sharper detail and grim clarity.

It was only too clear from the moment the battle started that the inhabitants of this planet were the ones that held the advantage. One by one the Imperials' ships were being destroyed with only a handful of losses for the locals. With a resigned expression, Tristan palmed his comlink. He was transmitting several clicks in a short uncomplicated code, warning his fellow conspirators that things were going downhill and it was best to stand ready.

It might have been different if the _Mangle_ had managed to send a message to whoever was in charge of the small fleet, which was really nothing more than a task force. The battle might have played out a little differently, but Tristan wasn't too sure. Sadly most Imperial officers, especially those with posts closer to the core, relied on the overwhelming power the military had at its disposal to achieve victory. That was the obvious strategy of whoever was in charge. The man clearly thought he could just barge through with little to no intelligence what he was up against.

As the battle progressed in its ever worsening fashion the running lights began blinking in a recognizable pattern. The Lieutenant who was the sole surviving senior officer and thus the man currently in command, sighed heavily. "It seems we have no choice," he said, everything about him suddenly saying that he resigned himself to the inevitable. "The rescue force has been defeated. However their commander has decided that for the good of the Empire it is better to destroy what we can instead of allowing our enemies a chance to capture, repair, and use our own materials against the Empire. Thus our duty is clear."

It did not take a genius to understand where this was leading. Tristan tapped a second code into his comlink.

"We have not the forces to resist should there be an attempt to board the _Mangle_," continued the Lieutenant. "We have no choice but to follow our superiors' orders. Ensign, begin the self-destruct sequence."

"B-But sir, what about all the people aboard?" The ensign was clearly uncomfortable with the order. By luck this particular individual was in on the mutiny should it happen and subtly the ensign's eyes darted to Tristan and back. It was quick and wasn't seen by anyone except the intended who responded with a small shake of the head.

"Everyone aboard this ship," said the Lieutenant icily, "is a member of the Imperial military. You have all taken an oath of loyalty to the Empire, and are expected to die for it at the orders of your commanders should your death benefit the Empire. As it will here. Now start the sequence or get off my bridge so that I can do it myself!"

Suddenly there was a click. "I'm afraid that choice is no longer up to you." Everyone on the bridge turned to see Junior Lieutenant Tristan Palleon standing a meter behind the commander, his service blaster in hand and pointed at the man.

"Palleon, what is the meaning of this?"

"It's simple, sir, this is a mutiny." As Tristan said those seven words, the bridge doors opened and a dozen storm troopers marched in and arranged themselves accordingly to shoot at any officers not part of the conspiracy. "I'm sorry, sir, but I simply can't condone the meaningless deaths that would result from the decisions you and your officers have chosen to follow. And most of the crew agrees with me. You will be given one chance to change you decision and attempt to make a deal with the people of this system, or I will be forced to remove you from command."

The commander stood straight and tall, and said with authority, "Never!"

"Then I'm afraid you and anyone who follows you will have to be incarcerated in the brig for the time being. Men-"

Before he could give the order the commander's arm snapped, drawing his own blaster. But before it could be brought up halfway the sound of a blaster firing filled the air and a red dart of energy struck his chest. The former Lieutenant face was filled with pained surprise before he fell over, dead.

The storm trooper who fired lowered his rifle and returned to his standby position.

Tristan didn't like that someone had died, he had wanted to do this without bloodshed, but he was prepared and fully expected for there to be resistance. "You know that we are serious," he said to those who remained. "Let's not have any more stupid actions. Sergeant, please escort these men to the brig. And have the body removed and put on ice."

He waited for his orders to be carried out until only he and three others who were fellow conspirators remained. Tristan then called for others to fill in the empty stations before turning to the communications warrant officer. "Warrant officer, please hail our guards. It's time we ensured our survival." Turning back to the holoprojection he saw that of the Imperial taskforce virtually nothing remained. There were probably a number of escape pods floating around, filled with those who chose not to die.

However no matter how many were still alive there was little doubt that well over a hundred thousand individuals lost their lives this day. Sadly Tristan had little time to mourn for his fallen comrades, having to focus on what he had to bargain with.

* * *

**Author's notes:** This was a long time coming. Part of the reason comes from the difficulty I had in writing this battle scene. I had never done anything of this scale so I don't have anything to judge myself by. A large shout out of thanks to Tellemicus Sundance, the man whose opinion I rely on more than any other for this story and who willingly takes time to edit my work before I post it. Without him the quality of this story would be considerably less.

Some people may ask why the Imperials were so easily defeated. Well part of it can be attributed to advantages provided to Earth thanks to their unique technology. Second would be how the number of starfighters to mobile suits was more or less equal, while the ship to ship ratio heavily favored Earth. Finally it is my personal belief that the average Imperial naval officer and TIE pilot are simply "not that good."

Watching the movies and reading through the Extended Universe materials I have come to the belief that at its height the Empire valued soldiers who are obedient over those who are highly intelligent or are creative thinkers. And many of the sources indicate that the Imperials didn't put much value in individual TIE fighters or their pilots (or storm troopers for that matter), considering both to be the most common resource aside from hydrogen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Growth of a Seed**

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

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**Chapter 5**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

**Copernicus City**

The members of the Sol Council knew the moment the battle was over. It was easy to determine when the enemy destroyed themselves in a series of explosions.

It was also easy to foresee a number of possible repercussions from this attack when the populace was made aware of the details.

When Lacus Clyne and Princess Leia had rejoined the others in the council chambers, it was President White that spoke first.

"It seems that you may be getting what you wish for, Princess. I doubt it will be too long before Earth makes an alliance with your Alliance to Restore the Republic."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Cagalli Yula Athha, "That is still premature."

"I apologize, Ms. Athha," said White. "But surely everyone in this room realizes that, given the current situation, it would be in our best interests that the Alliance wins in their war. Twice now Imperial ships have entered our system and initiated hostile actions. We have won the battles but certainly not the war."

"We're not at war with the Empire," Cagalli pointed out.

"Not officially; but from what I have seen, it would appear that the Empire will not take this lying down should they learn of it."

"That's true," agreed Princess Leia. "For the Empire, its image of strength is one of its greatest assets, and they can't allow that image to be tarnished. Its strength keeps many of the oppressed worlds under its rule from outright revolting. Should word of this defeat reach the Empire, they will bring the full force of their military in order to bring the people of this planet to heel."

"And earlier you reported that a single Imperial fleet is large, much larger than this force," said the Prime Minister of the Eurasian Federation to get confirmation.

"Yes, a single sector group, the smallest standard military force used by the Empire to maintain its regime in any single sector of space, will include at least 24 Imperial Star Destroyers with at least four times that number in smaller capital ships and support craft, thousands of starfighters and ground vehicles, and millions of soldiers ranging from grunt troopers to elite Stormtroopers. And that is just for the more peaceful sectors. Areas where there is significant activity from pirates, rebels, any other kind of major criminal actions and civil unrest, or is simply considered important to the Empire will have larger military forces assigned to them."

"In short, Representative Athha, and I hate to make this comparison, but our planet is in the same situation now with the Empire that Orb was in with the Earth Alliance during the first war. Our technology and the skills of our military may protect us for a time, but they have the greater advantage of numbers."

The glare Cagalli gave President White was like dry ice, it was so cold it burned. And she had every reason to since White had brought up those awful memories, but he had valid point. The Empire's resources were too vast. Even if Earth's technology could hold them off temporarily, in a battle of attrition the Empire would quickly overwhelm them.

Fortunately, Lacus was there to put a hand on her friend's shoulder, letting her calming presence soothe the blond. When Cagalli was calm again, White continued to speak.

"I can understand what concerns you may have. As with all of us, you must represent the will of your people, which can be summed up best in the words of your father. And truthfully none of us wish to be part of another war. But I am not saying that Earth **should** openly send its armies to fight, we currently lack the technology or man-power to do so. But the best way to ensure that the Empire leaves us alone is that their focus is on the rebellion. Thus the better equipped the rebellion is, the more attention it'll draw from the Empire."

"Then wouldn't the Empire want to find their suppliers?" asked the president of the U.S.S.A.

White shrugged, "Sadly it would appear that whichever road we choose to lead Earth down, there will be some risk. I am simply voicing my opinion on the path I believe will be most advantageous for Earth."

"There is still the issue of whether or not Ms. Organa is speaking the truth about her Rebel Alliance," countered the U.S.S.A. president. "I, for one, will not agree to any treaty until we know the truth. And I believe that I know the perfect man to find the truth."

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**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

**Corellian Corvette Tantive IV**

"So how did it go Princess?" Asked Captain Antilles when Leia returned to the lounge of the Tantive IV.

"The Empire did us a favor by attacking," said Leia as she sat in one of the empty seats, eying the drink in Antilles tumbler before dismissing the notion. "Several of Earth's leaders are ready to join us, however they want a unanimous vote before officially joining the Alliance. And who knows how long it will take for the remaining fence sitters to come over to our side as well."

"Ah, the joys of democracy, it promises fairness and equality, just be prepared to wait for any decision to be made" mused Antilles as sipped his Corellian brandy and recalled the days before Palpatine's ascension to emperor. "Well, I don't think it will take too long. While you were meeting with the Sol Council I took a walk around their spaceport and got a feel for how the common man, soldier and civilian, feels about the whole thing. Some blame us for bringing trouble upon their home, but it seemed most were directing their anger at the Empire." Antilles took another sip and asked, "So Princess, how long will it be before I can give the order for us to move out?"

"Tomorrow," answered Leia. "They have already gathered their representatives to observe the galaxy, and they are ready to leave. That's fortunate because we can't really afford to wait. I'm sure my father is worrying himself to death over out disappearance."

Antilles could only agree, knowing what Bail Organa was like after working for him for so long. "And the Alliance must be scrambling to move everything, without word from us for so long they have to assume the worst, that we were captured by the Empire."

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**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

"Yahooo! Just look at all that treasure!" exclaimed Lowe Guele as he surveyed the wreckage of what were once extraterrestrial ships from the bridge of the Cornelius-class ship Re.H.O.M.E. "Just think of all the incredible technology we can salvage! Oh, I bet I can give Red Frame some incredible upgrades!" He was literally dancing around in zero gravity at the thought of the possibilities. "George!" he called to the holographic captain of the Re.H.O.M.E. who was created through the use of the George Glenn module, "Full speed that-away, I can smell high-quality treasure!" he yelled pointing in a seemingly random direction. "We have to hurry! We can't let the other Junk Guild groups to get it first!"

"Calm down, Lowe," chastened his female companion Kisato Yamabuki. "And before you think about using what we find in the Red Frame, remember that we have three contracts to fulfill. One with Gai's Serpent Tail team, another with the Canard Pars and the Ortygia, and finally a contract with Morgenroete direct from Rondo Mina Sahaku."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get them their promised salvage tonnage, but after that I am keeping the rest," said Lowe as he waved off the responsibility he owed the clients. "Now, I am going to get Eight and prep Red Frame," he said as he floated off the bridge.

"Honestly, why does he have to act like a kid in a candy shop every time we come across wreckage? I mean a lot of this stuff is all black and crispy," murmured Kisato.

"Personally, I agree with him, Kisato," said the ever beautiful, ever mysterious Professor as she monitored the ship's instruments. "Even if it's broken junk you never know what sort of technological secrets you may be able to pry. And you know that when it comes to finding valuable technology, Lowe's nose is better than a bloodhound's."

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**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

**Corellian Corvette Tantive IV**

A large number of people gathered around the Tantive IV, at a safe distance for when the ship took off. A majority of those gathered included the press who anxiously awaited the departure of the first "alien" ship ever known to visit the Earth. Though now that it was confirmed that there was extraterrestrial life it was certain that every story, urban myth, or conspiracy theory concerning aliens would be revisited and put under intense scrutiny for verification. At least they would by those who didn't have the importance to work with the actual extraterrestrials or by those who simply wanted to use the hype to get out on the media.

Another significant portion of gathering who politicians, bureaucrats, military officers, and heads of state that had come to see off not only the princess but also those that they had selected to be their eyes and ears out in the galaxy and who would represent Earth to the Alliance leadership.

"Take care Mir," said Kira as he gave his friend a good bye hug. Kira's hug was followed by Cagalli.

Miriallia Haw, who had served as the mobile suit coordinator aboard the Archangel for two wars, as well as a well-reputed photojournalist, was selected as Orb's representative. "I'll be fine," she insisted. She jerked her thumb off to the side, "Shiho will be watching over me the whole time."

Shiho Hahnenfuss, a decorated ZAFT pilot who fought with distinction during both wars. Until recently she had been a member of the Joule Team. She was the PLANTs representative, being sent so observe their military capabilities and to create a good impression with the Alliance. She was also a friend of Miriallia thanks to their connections to two certain ZAFT pilots. Currently Shiho was a little ways off, speaking with her former commander.

Yzak for his part looked a little unsure as to what he was doing and flustered because of it. Shiho seemed to be amused as the man's obvious ineptitude when it came to being sensitive and soft.

Mir and Cagalli shared in her amusement from afar. Well, Mir did until Cagalli poked in the shoulder and then pointing off in a different direction. Mir followed the finger and found a familiar face standing off in the crowd. It was her old boyfriend Dearka, who was clearly nervous as he glanced her way, a bouquet of flowers in hand.

"Honestly," she huffed in exasperation. "We break up because he can't handle a long distance relationship, and now that the distance is getting light-years longer he wants to get back together? Excuse me," taking her leave of her friends she went to speak with her ex.

Cagalli, somehow being more in tune with women then Kira, despite her tomboyish attitude, grabbed her brother by the arm. "Come on, let's give them time to work it out."

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**City: Aldera  
Planet: Alderaan  
System: Alderaan System  
Sector: Alderaan Sector  
Region: Core Worlds**

Princess Leia breathed deeply, smelling the sweetness of the air of her home world. After such an eventful trip, it was good to be back on the planet that was considered the shining star of the Core. And it was especially enjoyable since she got to see the reactions of individuals who were stepping onto an 'alien' world for the first time in their lives.

"It's beautiful!" said an awed voiced from behind.

Leia smiled at the compliment and turned to see Miriallia Haw was already taking pictures of the landscape visible from the hangar that was part of the royal palace. The hangar was situated to provide a view of the lake that covered the majority of the massive caldera and with the forested, mountainous vista for a background. It was breathtaking.

And she wasn't the only one who seemed to enjoy it as the United States of South America representative, photojournalist Jess Rabble was furiously taking photos of anything he could see. His photo taking grew more furious as several thrantas came into view; the creatures Leia believed looked so similar to the skeleton from the Whale Stone.

The two photographers were just two of several relatively well known individuals who played important roles in Earth's recent history, and who had been selected to observe, gather intelligence, and report it back to Earth.

Other individuals who could be called famous in certain circles were the Eurasian Federation mobile suit ace Morgan Chevalier, ZAFT mobile suit ace Shiho Hahnenfuss, and Junk Guild Representative Liam Garfield. The first two had been chosen for their military backgrounds to observe and determine military strengths and fighting capabilities. The third was chosen as an independent who was not affiliated with any government and who was likely the person with the most extensive and detailed experience of dealing with varied technology. With only one or two exceptions there was no category of technology known on Earth that Liam hadn't examined.

The rest of the group included ambassadors, scientists, or basically individuals who would be skilled at gathering information on the politics, technology, and feelings of the people of the galaxy.

Calling to the group, Leia led the group out of the hangar. First they would have to meet with her father. Bail Organa needed to know of what happened on Earth and what needed to be done to convince them to join the Alliance. He could also find trusted members of the Alliance that could guide, and protect, the people of Earth.

And finally they needed to make sure all tracks leading to Earth were covered.

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**Moon: Yavin 4  
Planet: Yavin  
System: Yavin System  
Sector: Gordian Reach  
Region: Outer Rim**

General Jan Dodonna and a room full of his staff watched the holovid recording that had been sent to him through the Alliance's secret communication channels on Alderaan. At first he and everyone else who was aware of the holovid had assumed it came from Bail Organa and were surprised on finding out that it had actually come from his daughter Leia after she reappeared.

The disappearance of Leia and her ship had been a considerable scare among the Rebel personnel who were aware of her involvement and when she failed to report in it was a reasonable fear that she had been captured. Leia had only recently become an active member of the Alliance, having replaced her father as the highest placed spy they had in the Imperial Senate. For her to suddenly disappear during an alliance mission, along with the entire crew of the Tantive IV… Well, the various commanders of the Alliance had thought it prudent to transfer from Dantooine to the fourth moon of Yavin.

When the ship and crew had reappeared at Alderaan, the release of tension had been palpable, though there was now curiosity at the new passengers aboard the ship. The curiosity had grown when a file had been delivered through Bail's secure routes, files that contained technical specs and a holovid recording. According to the attached message, it was imperative that General Dodonna and the other high ranking member of the Alliance's military structure watch the holovid.

Dodonna did as the request asked and found that the holovid was of a battle recorded by the Tantive IV accompanied by the ship's recorded sensor data. It was then that curiosity grew at the sight of six large machines, what were first assumed to be droids, and a ship somewhere between corvette and frigate class in size charged in on a much larger Victory-class Star Destroyer and its fighter compliment of 18 TIE fighters and 6 TIE bombers.

The curiosity turned into astonishment shortly into the battle, a battle that ended in defeat of the numerically superior Imperial forces.

During a meeting like this, it was best to remain silent until the General gave leave to speak, so all of the various officers remained quiet as Dodonna silently replayed the holovid twice more.

After that, the General read through the summary report of everything that happened to Leia when she disappeared. When he finished, he played the holovid once more. This time however as he watched the TIE's launch, he spoke.

"This is quite interesting. Can anyone tell me what is wrong with these TIEs?" asked the General. "I'll admit that their not the best the Empire has, but surely you see the beyond rookie mistakes they are making."

"They're engaging too closely. The distance had shortened to a good 500 meters before their pilots fired," said one of the officers.

"That's a kilometer and a half short of the effective range of a TIE's targeting computer," commented another.

"But the report did mention that the people of Earth employed some sort of sensor jamming technology," said another trying to explain the anomaly. "Something which is supposed to be more effective than our own ECMs.

Dodonna continued from there, "Yes, and as Antilles has described, this technology grants a distinct advantage."

"Sir?" That word was a question for clarification from one of the more junior officers that had been promoted before their time thanks to the Alliance's need for personnel.

"Captain Antilles observed the battle first-hand, and studied this same recording. He has determined that these 'mobile suits' have several advantages over our starfighters. The primary advantage is mobility. The mobile suit's form, utilizing a system their creators call Active Mass Balance Auto Control or AMBAC, allows the machine to perform a greater variety of maneuvers with less stress on the frame and less fuel consumption compared to a starfighter. And the movement range of the arms provides a wider and more accurate firing-arc than even a laser cannon mounted on a swivel turret. That is where the advantage lies."

"And what is that sir?"

"It's their sensor jammers. They greatly restrict the effective range of our targeting computers, forcing the TIEs to sacrifice their superior speed in favor of the maneuverability needed in a dogfight of such close quarters. So close that they can see the mobile suits with their naked eye. Typically that would mean little as TIEs are amongst the most maneuverable starfighters out there, but their abilities pale in comparison to mobile suits. Additionally the mobile suits operators counter their own ECMs by using powerful cameras, giving them the advantage both close up and at range."

The old General paused to let explanation sink in. "Should these machines meet expectations and those recorded prove to be the rule and not the exception, then mobile suits could be used as a powerful weapon against the Empire's starfighter force."

Those around the table smiled, or depending on species the nearest equivalent, as they felt a bit of hope. The Alliance needed every weapon they could get for their fight against the Empire.

"General, does that mean we will be attempting to build our own mobile suits based on the schematics we were given?"

As the current head of ground and starfighter operations, General Jan Dodonna was one of the most important military leaders of the Alliance and had the authority to authorize construction and testing of new machines and equipment. In fact he already had a number of projects in the works for new starfighters.

"We will indeed," the general said. "But this project will be maintained at the highest levels of secrecy and control. I want to begin production only after we've constructed a prototype and run some tests. We'll also keep production numbers low and only use them on specially assigned missions. That last thing we need is for the Empire to become aware of their existence and decide they need to try building their own. And our resources are stretched as it is."

The officers all agreed with the general on that point. They also couldn't afford to spend a lot of resources on trial and error prototypes.

"Now," continued Dodonna as he called up the schematics that had accompanied the holovid, "the project will be divided into three parts. The first project will go to you, Suskafoo. I want you and your engineers to take a copy of these blueprints and study them, then work on incorporating any of our technology you deem superior into the designs from Earth. Simultaneously I want you to try incorporating any of their technology deemed superior into our starfighters. Understand?"

Suskafoo, a Verpine and leader of the first Roche asteroid to ally with the Alliance nodded his head, a gesture he had picked up on his studies of galactic society.

"The second project will be to recruit a group of pilots and begin training for a switchover to mobile suits. I will be taking recommendations from any squadron and wing commanders, but I would prefer new trainees. Fresh recruits won't have the experience and instincts of a seasoned pilot so they should take to the new machines better. But if a veteran is adaptable enough, I will gladly accept him for the training."

"The final project will be to design a completely new mobile suit. The purpose of this project is to create a transition machine, one that our seasoned pilots would feel more comfortable in. The report mentions that Earth does have transformable mobile suits that become machines similar to starfighters. I think such a design would work well for us and I know that since the A-wing project is near completion, there are some people that can be put on this one." The general didn't need to mention that one of the people he had in mind was Walex Blissex, one of the best engineers of starship design in the galaxy.

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**Planet: Coruscant  
System: Coruscant System  
Sector: Coruscant Sector  
Region: Core Worlds**

The planet of Coruscant was an ecumenpolis* that had officially been renamed Imperial Center. Yet that was a name used only by the ranking Imperials while the common man still used the name Coruscant. It is from this planet that the Galactic Republic led its member planets for 25,000 years. Now it served as the throne world for the Galactic Empire, the seat of power for Emperor Palpatine's regime.

And it was to see Emperor Palpatine that Moff Nox Vellam, Sectorial Governor of the Bright Jewel sector, had been summoned to this world. The mere fact that Vellam was going to be speaking with the Emperor in person signified that the meeting would be of importance. And, unfortunately for Moff Vellam, he was all too aware that he had not been summoned to receive good news.

The moment he had stepped off of the _Lambda_-class shuttle Vellam had been escorted from the hangar of the Imperial Palace, through several corridors, and a turbolift ride before finally stopping inside a foyer that separated the corridor from whichever audience chamber Palpatine intended to use for the meeting. There Vellam was forced to wait, hoping that it was indication that the Emperor was busy and that it didn't reflect on the man's current opinion of the Moff. Finally after two hours the doors to the audience chamber opened, which was the signal that Vellam was to enter.

The room was small in comparison to the many grand hallways, ballrooms, and other massive structures designed to house hundreds to thousands of individuals at once. Still its height and length dwarfed the Moff, and the dim lighting cast shadows that served to create the illusion that the room was even larger. At the end of the corridor, on a raised platform was the Emperor's throne. It had its back to the entrance which allowed the one sitting in it a view of the city's night skyline through a window, or maybe it was a holoscreen (Vellam wasn't sure), shaped in the form of the Imperial crest.

Though the Emperor couldn't be seen, his presence could be felt as if a dark weight had settled on Vellam's mind. Moff Vellam stopped a half-meter away from the platform's steps and kneeled on one knee, waiting to be granted permission to speak.

"Do you know why I have summoned you, Nox Vellam?" asked the Emperor.

Vellam gulped when Palpatine didn't use his rank. "My lord, I believe that it has to do with the number of military ships that have suddenly disappeared from my sector group. Among which was the _Venomous Fang_, flagship for Admiral Davros. Along with the loss of material, all crewmembers and the troops assigned to each respective ship are believed lost."

"Has there been any success at discovering what has happened? At why 18 military ships and those aboard have gone missing when the Empire is about to undergo major restructuring?"

There it was, the restructuring in the Imperial government; that was the reason Vellam had been summoned to come all the way to Coruscant when under normal circumstances he would only be speaking to the Emperor through the holonet. And it was because of the very reason for the restructuring that Vellam knew the Emperor would not like what he had to say.

"My lord, according to a brief message left by Admiral Davros, he discovered a lead as to the whereabouts of a rebel base. However, he did not say either where or how he came across this lead. I intend to rectify this lack of discipline immediately." Hopefully by putting the blame solely on Davros, Vellam would come out of this with his rank intact.

Palpatine spent a moment in silent contemplation, a moment where Vellam tried to calm his wildly beating heart before it burst. Finally the Emperor spoke.

"Tell me, Vellam, why should I appoint you the rank of Grand Moff of one of the new Oversectors when you can't seem to handle the very reason the position is being created for?"

That was the crux of the matter. The whole matter hinged entirely on the purpose for creating Oversectors, regions of space that contained several regular sectors, overseen by Grand Moffs, or Governor-Generals whose authority exceeded that of regular Moffs. Their mission is to eradicate the rebellion problem within those sectors. And currently Vellam was slated to become Grand Moff of what will be the Bright Jewel Oversector, which his Bright Jewel sector would form the heart of.

"My Emperor, if you were to bestow upon me the rank of Grand Moff, I would have significantly more authority and more freedom to perform my duties. I assure you, my lord, with such power I can reshape the fleets under my control so that nothing like this happens again and I will crush the rebels that dare oppose the Empire within the Oversector."

Hope strained within Vellam as he waited for the Emperor's reaction to his little speech. It wasn't much but hopefully it would sway the most powerful man in the galaxy to show mercy.

"Very well, Moff Vellam, I shall grant you a second chance. And I shall even provide you with assistance."

Relief flooded through the Moff who still had his position and hopefully was still the main prospect to become Grand Moff,

"Vader,"

Only for his blood to run cold at that one word.

From the shadows, the Dark Lord of the Sith stepped forth. Vellam's mind grasped for answers as to how he didn't hear the giant being's mechanically aided breathing. Logically thinking it must be a suppressor field to dampen the sound. But he couldn't help irrationally believing that it was the supernatural powers attributed to the Force that he wielded.

Known only as Darth Vader, he is the Emperor's right hand and most trusted servant. His power is second only to the Emperor. Unless ordered otherwise by the Emperor, Vader has no restrictions in what he is allowed to do to accomplish his goal. Vader even had his own personal fleet known as the Death Squadron. But most importantly, Vader was well known for killing any subordinate who fails him, and just about every Imperial could be considered Vader's subordinate.

When Vader stood beside the throne, he stopped and waited patiently for his master to give his orders.

"Vader, I want you to go with Moff Vellam. Help him to instill discipline in his troops. And find the rebels responsible."

"Yes, my master," rumbled the imposing man as he bowed to his superior. Acting on some unseen signal, Vader marched out of the room, not bothering to wait for Moff Vellam.

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**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

Within the Earth sphere, there is a hidden room. The room is kept apart and sealed from the rest of the world and is bare except for a high-back leather chair and seven monitors. A man currently sat in the chair, his face hidden by shadows.

The center monitor's screen glowed as it came online; on its screen was one word.

Password

"Tabris," said the man.

With the password, the central monitor switched over to a screen of data code. At the same time, the six other monitors came to life. Each of these screens depicted a word written in the ancient Greek letters lambda, omicron, gamma, omicron, and sigma. Λόγος The symbol of Logos.

"Greetings, everyone, I am glad to see that the rest of the council has avoided capture. So far, at least."

This was one of the last of Logos' strongholds. Once an organization that pulled the strings of the world from the shadows, manipulating the politics of nations, and inciting wars in order to further their own goals. Members of Logos had all come from the upper crust of society, the financial elite, often with a family represented among their ranks for generations. The ranks of the organization's agents had been filled with a more egalitarian bunch, coming from all walks of life. The world had practically been theirs. And at the top of the secret organization was the Council, whose identities and very existence were kept secret from all but the highest of members.

And then George Glen revealed his secret, and provided the world with the knowledge of how to create Coordinators. That, in and of itself, had not been a problem. The trouble began when the PLANTs, once controlled through the funding and military might of its sponsor nations, declared independence, which they demonstrated by using ZAFT to drive off the military forces of the sponsor nations.

Logos, at the time, had few inroads into the PLANTs' government structure, a mistake they intended to rectify. And as their experience told them, the best time to implant agents was during government restructuring after a war. Using Blue Cosmos and their shadow connections, they incited a war between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs, the Bloody Valentine War.

However, that was when things started to go wrong. They had underestimated ZAFT's military capabilities. Then they lost control of the Blue Cosmos's leader Muruta Azrael, nephew of Logos member Bruno Azrael. They underestimated how much he hated Coordinators and the lengths he would go to crush them. And then there were the wild cards of the Three Ship Alliance and the genocidal Rau Le Creuset.

Yet after the end of the war, Logos was able to accomplish its goal when member Gilbert Durandal was appointed as Supreme Chairman. However, the newly elected Supreme Chairman betrayed them, severing his ties with Logos, and acted according to his own agenda. The council could not allow that. They needed to remove him. In preparation for the coming conflict they would use to remove Durandal, they made Djibril their "voice". That was their biggest mistake.

They had believed that Djibril would be easy to control, being a man with no real accomplishments tied to his name. But he was ambitious, and he used his newfound authority to usurp control of the organization while the council was distracted by other matters. But Djibril was not the most intelligent member, evidenced by how he kept trying to use brute force to win the Second Bloody Valentine War even when it backfired each time, and he was a complete idiot when compared to Durandal. Durandal took advantage of his superiority to Djibril to eliminate the majority of the organization in order to remove an obstacle to his Destiny Plan. With much of the organization gone, it was only too easy for the likes of the world government to round up most of Logos' agents that remained.

All except for the Council and a handful of their most trusted subordinates.

"As you all know by now," began Tabris. "These are interesting times to live in. First Contact with an extraterrestrial race has been made. And surprise, surprise; they are human!"

"What's surprising is how you can say that so happily, Tabris, considering how our organization has been torn to shambles," groused the member from the center right monitor, the voice electronically disguised, whose codename was Zeruel.

Tabris shrugged, not that it could be seen. "When fate closes a door, it opens a window. And she has provided to us opportunities that we did not know existed until recently."

"You intend to use the extraterrestrials?" The member codenamed Zeruel asked from the center right monitor.

"Is that wise?" asked Leliel from the second left monitor.

"Since they are human, it would be possible for us to predict how they respond to certain stimuli," commented Areal from the second right monitor.

"But there is a problem, all data sources indicate that the Sol Council is responding favorably to the extraterrestrials. They would most surely warn them of Logos," said Iruel from the far left.

"Yes, but my people, what's left of them, have been working to spread the information that Logos is finished and is no longer a threat," added Bardiel.

"But you're forgetting my comrades," interrupted Tabris. "According to what data we have received, there are many sentient beings in the galaxy. A galaxy filled with many governments and the most powerful of them is ideally suited for our purposes."

"You mean the Empire?" asked Zeruel.

"Yes," confirmed Tabris. "A massive tyrannical government ruled by humans and controls millions of planets and their resources. A government plagued by seditious citizens who strike at it at every possible opportunity, keeping the embers of conflict hot, forcing the Empire to spend tremendous amounts of its resources on its military. Would you all not agree that such a place would be quite profitable for us?"

"The idea of having access to all those resources is tantalizing," said Bardiel. "And if word on which way the Sol Council is leaning, the Empire could be using help soon. At least if that failed invasion fleet was any measure of standard."

"Precisely," agreed Tabris before he turned his attention to the monitor on the far right. "Armisael, you have been awfully quiet. Tell me, how is your work progressing in the Library?"

"Terrible," admitted the final member of the council. "I have the genetic information of all of the targets; however I have been unable to solve the instability problem. If I were simply recreating Ulen Hibiki's work, then we could easily regulate the problems the clones he created possessed, but what I am trying to do is significantly more complex. I lack the technology to proceed past the first part of Phase One."

"That is troubling. What of the mobile suits?"

"Acquisition and modification of the designs was simple, however that was before we lost 95 percent of the organization. After Bruno Azrael was arrested, his company was purchased and absorbed into Anaheim Electronics, and we no longer have contacts in Actaeon Industries that could hide the subversion of a mobile suit factory and the secret construction of the machines. We simply don't have enough access to large high-technology industrial firms to continue on that front."

"Yet another reason to involve ourselves with the Empire," decided Tabris. "It's possible they have the technology we need."

So far the plan they were hammering out seemed to be full of advantages for Logos. However, there was one glaring problem. "And how are we to contact the Empire?" asked Zeruel.

"I may know how," answered Bardiel. "My agent in Anaheim has gotten wind of a secret. It seems that Anaheim Electronics has made a deal with the extraterrestrials that included a technology exchange. It's possible that among the technology are schematics for some sort of faster than light travel or communications system that we would need."

"Focus your efforts on acquiring that technology," ordered Tabris. "However, take no action that will comprise either you or your agents. We don't have the resources to make mistakes. If you can obtain the technology, focus on finding anything to do with faster-than-light communication or travel."

"Very well," responded Bardiel. "But they are likely to send any data on faster-than-light travel would be sent to the DSSD. They are Earth's experts in the field of deep-space travel."

"Just do what you can," said Tabris. "If need be, I am sure the others will be willing to divert their resources to aid you." There was a chorus of affirmatives from the monitors.

The group continued their meeting, delving into the details of their current operations and what needed to be done to regain their former power.

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**Planet: Ord Mantell  
System: Bright Jewel system  
Sector: Bright Jewel Cluster  
Region: Mid Rim Territories bordering Wild Space**

Vader looked over the planet of Ord Mantell from the bridge of Moff Vellam's flagship, the Eradicator. To the right and slightly behind him was Moff Vellam, not that Vader had particularly cared. Vellam was a politician and that was one thing that Vader never liked. The only real use Vellam had was for managing the bureaucracy in the Bright Jewel Cluster. Not that it mattered in such crime-ridden sector, on a planet where for enough credits any fabrication can become reality if you know who to talk to.

So far, after a week's time, the investigation had led here. The uncovered information had led to the knowledge that old Victory class ship Mangle had come here, but for what purpose the local government claims to have no knowledge, saying that it entered hyperspace shortly after arriving. Several days later the flagship of Admiral Davros entered the system. The admiral had made inquiries into the arrival and departure of the Mangle. The local government had little to offer and no clues as to its whereabouts. However the admiral seemed to have discovered his own source of information, deploying a swarm of probe droids followed by the assembly of a small fleet that was under his command which entered hyperspace along a similar vector as the Mangle. But what that information said, such as the intended destination or why follow that course at all, was not something made privy outside Davros's fleet.

Now the investigation team could try launching probe droids as Davros did; Vader had virtually unlimited operations funding. But it would be a futile process. Without proper coordinates, and given the vastness of space, it would take tens of thousands, if not millions, of probe droids just to search all the possible locations within a single sector. For all they knew, the coordinates Davros followed led to some barren patch of space light-years from any star.

No, that method of investigation would be too costly and time-consuming. Instead Vader had requested manifests from all spaceports on ships that had departed from Ord Mantell within the general time frame of the Mangle's arrival and departure. And that was just the list that Vader intended to personally inspect. There were lists of ships covering a wider time frame, from a month before to the present day, that were being covered by the Intelligence agents that Vader had brought along.

Vader's list was being projected by a large monitor on the bridge that Vader turned his attention too after he tired of the planet. The list of names included dozens of ships and their departure time and was cycling through them at a sedate pace. There was no other accompanying data and even the most intelligent individual would have trouble establishing a connection between them and the Mangle. But unlike ordinary men, the Force was Vader's ally.

The powers the Force gave to the Dark Side adept were many and varied, but one of the most useful was clairvoyance. Through the Force Vader could obtain knowledge, though it wasn't simple. The Force did not put detailed facts of events straight into his mind. Even if he were to receive visions of events that have transpired or that are to yet to come, they would be fragmentary with emotional overtones that clouded things. It was easier to rely on "feelings" through the Force. Though they provided little concrete data, they would point Vader in the direction he needed to look.

And as expected, that's precisely what happened, as a name on the list suddenly caught his attention for no apparent reason. With a motion the list stopped cycling and switched to the information on the ship.

Vellam read the name of the ship and the listed owners and he was surprised. "The Tantive IV, currently owned by the royal house of Alderaan, and used by Princess Leia Organa, senator for Alderaan, on a diplomatic trip to the planet." Curiously looking over to the black clad man he asked, "Why this one, Lord Vader?"

"This ship holds a clue to the answer we seek," was Vader's response as a statement of fact, when for others it would merely be speculation.

"But sir, the time stamp indicates that the ship and her crew left the system before the Mangle even arrived, and it left on a different course than the Mangle's own departure."

"Those records could be forgeries," explained Vader. "And it coincides with the ship's own disappearance," he said, referring to how Princess Leia had an unexpected absence for a number of days, missing a Senate meeting she was expected to attend. When she returned to her home on Alderaan, a statement was released that the Tantive IV had been hit by a pirate attack at a waypoint. The ship managed to escape to hyperspace but not before receiving damage that left it stranded in the middle of nowhere. They were able to fix the damage on their own and return to Alderaan. Or so their story goes.

"It is a bit of a coincidence" said Vellam, who did not wish to argue with Vader. Sadly the alternative wasn't much better at the moment. "But my lord, without physical evidence…" Vellam stopped as Vader brought his masked gaze to bear on him. The Moff did not wish to die.

But it was the truth. If Vader were to arrest a member of the Imperial Senator without evidence, it would cause uproar in the Imperial Senate. To make matters more complicated, Alderaan had the distinction of being one of the first planets colonized by humans and had been a member of the galactic community since the founding of the Republic 25,000 years ago.

Finally Vader said, "We need not arrest anyone, merely observe them. If they have anything to do with the Rebels, they will reveal themselves in time."

"Sir," interrupted the ship's captain. "Communiqué from Imperial Center, it's been discovered that on the planet Ralltiir a significant percentage of the population is sympathetic to the rebels, including their high council. The initial sabotage of the planet's banking system has not had the intended impact of eliminating these sympathies, and is in fact seeing counteractions that are believed to be Rebel-supported. Purification has been ordered, to be commenced by a fleet under the command of Lord Tion. It has been requested that you go to oversee the subjugation"

"Very well, prepare a shuttle. I'll depart immediately. Moff Vellam, prepare a report on our findings."

"Yes, Lord Vader."

"And Vellam," said Vader with a hint of warning in his already sinister voice. "Keep in mind that I will be giving a personal report to the Emperor, so yours had better correspond to mine."

Vellam gulped. "Yes, Lord Vader."

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**PLANT: Aprilius One**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

**Five Months BBY**

Kira Yamato sat on a bench in the gazebo that resided in the gardens of the Clyne mansion, his home since he had moved to the PLANTs. As usual, the Haros were bouncing around, playing some game that involved chasing Birdy. On the table before him, a laptop's screen glowed, allowing him to read the reports despite the current nighttime conditions of the colony. It was late, though past experiences had taught Kira how to adapt to odd hours. He was simply killing time as he waited for Lacus.

The Sol Council had a video conference that had begun last night. The subject of discussion had been the reports of those sent out into the galaxy, brought via courier courtesy of the Rebel Alliance. When the initial meeting had ended Lacus had briefly called Kira to tell him that she would be in an emergency session with the PLANTs' Supreme Council to discuss the information the Sol Council had received. She didn't expect to be home until late. So Kira was staying up to wait for her.

Eventually, there was the very familiar "Hello, hello," of Mr. Pink came rolling up to his feet, Lacus right behind the toy. The day of meetings had taken its toll on Lacus, everything about her telling just how tired she was. If it weren't her unique and still pristine beauty, one would be hard-pressed to see the innocently cute girl he met years ago with the mature young woman before him.

Picking up Mr. Pink, Lacus sat down and leaned against Kira with her head resting on his shoulder, letting out a contented sigh as she allowed herself to relax against her lover.

"How was the meeting?" Kira asked.

Lacus let out another sigh, but this one was simply from exhaustion, and possibly a hint of sorrow that Kira thought he heard. "The courier arrived with reports from our representative in the galaxy. Reports on planets such as Alderaan and…" there was a pause here and when she finished her sentenced there was distinct sadness, "…Ralltiir."

"What's Ralltiir like?" Kira asked knowing that was what was bothering Lacus.

"It's a nice planet, situated in the Core region of the galaxy where most planets have large populations and high levels of industries. It's well known for its marble quarries, farming communities, and medical centers. But the planet's most famous and profitable institution is its banking system. It has a population of ten billion, the economy is stable, and the standard of living is quite high." Everything Lacus had said sounded more like facts read from a textbook, and not what was bothering her. "The population had grown significantly pro-Rebel and anti-Imperial. The Ralltiiri High Council even stopped a pro-Imperial faction from altering the market to favor the Empire. To curb Rebel sympathies, the Empire sent a fleet to pacify the planet."

That was the heart of the issue.

"The Ralltiiri people don't even have a true military, just lightly armed law enforcement. But that hadn't stopped the Imperials from bombarding the planet from orbit; burning cities, killing millions, and forcing millions of others suspected of Rebel connection into detainment-death camps disguised as refugee camps."

"How–," began Kira before Lacus cut him off.

"Princess Leia was able to get her ship through the blockade of the planet by running a mercy mission to bring in medical supplies, the only such mission allowed through by the Imperials. She brought Mir and Mr. Rabble with her. They took pictures of the burned cities, the camps, and the people."

Kira knew there wasn't a need to bother with asking if the photos were 100% real. Before leaving Miriallia and Jess had worked out a system that would tell anyone in the know if a photo was actually taken by them, and both reporters were highly trusted finders of the "truth." Mir would unquestionably be trusted by Orb, the PLANTs (or at least by their leaders), and Terminal, and Jess was trusted all over the world because of what he did before and during the Second Bloody Valentine.

"Has the Sol Council come to a decision?"

Lacus shook her head. "No; first we determined that it would be best to discuss the events with each of our own governments. Tomorrow there will be another meeting where we will make our final decision."

Kira was silent for a moment, looking at the stars and listening to the mindless chatter of the Haros. "The Supreme Council wants to aid the Alliance," he said, predicting what happened as opposed to questioning it.

Lacus nodded her head. "They did. And I agreed with them."

Kira brought his arms up around Lacus's shoulders and brought her into an embrace against his chest, knowing just how difficult the decision was for her. "You know that means we'll be involved in another war."

"I know," whispered Lacus, "and I hate it. I hate it so much. We were so close to what looks like real and lasting peace, yet we're getting drawn into another war. But, we can't let this continue. Letting the Empire do what it wants and ignoring the pleas of the Alliance. That's no different than letting the likes of Blue Cosmos, Patrick Zala, Logos, and Durandal do as they please with the world. We can't just sit idly by and let this happen."

This internal conflict drained Lacus and before long she had fallen asleep against Kira. Without complaint or waking her, the Ultimate Coordinator adjusted himself and picked Lacus up bridal style, carrying her into the house and to their bed.

()()()()()()()()

**Author's Notes:**

In some ways this was ready since last November. However some of the people I showed it to at the time thought it could be better. And I have worked on it on and off since then. In the end I decided that I was trying to make this too much and all I really wanted was to eat away at the months to get to the Battle of Yavin. I still have a long way to go. Well I did originally create this as a challenge for other authors to write their own Star Wars/Gundam SEED crossovers so in that respect I guess I succeeded.

And for those of you not aware the character Jess Rabble is from the manga series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Astray. He is a photojournalist who is dedicated to the ideal of observing and reporting the truth to the world. He piloted the ZGMF-X12 Gundam Astray Out Frame, a mobile suit given to him by Lowe Gear. Jess Rabble was the photojournalist who covered the exploits of U.S.S.A. hero Edward Harrelson during the U.S.S.A.'s revolution to break away from the Earth Alliance. He also covered the exploits of Junk Guild members in the early part of the Second Bloody Valentine.

Oh, and for those of you wondering why I only mentioned by didn't cover the events on Ralltiir, it's because it happened in a comic that I had never read. I knew it happened as well as the basics and figured it would be a good tool to use, but that is as far as I am willing to take it.

***Ecumenpolis – A planet or moon where the surface has been completely covered in a single worldwide city. There are at least twenty ecumenpolis in the galaxy including the well know worlds Taris and Nar Shaddaa**


	6. Chapter 6

**Growth of a Seed**

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

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**Chapter 6**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

"Fellow members of the Sol Council," began Lacus Clyne, speaking once again before the Sol Council, assembled via video conference. "We have had 24 hours to discuss the reports from the representatives with our respective governments. The Supreme Council of the PLANTs, after having reviewed the data, has voted in favor of Earth allying with the Alliance against the Empire. What consensus have your governments reached?"

One by one each member detailed the decisions made by their governments, and while none were truly unanimous, they all supported the decision to ally with the Alliance. With each member voting to support for the proposed alliance it became unanimous and official. Earth would ally with the Alliance to Restore the Republic and declare war against the Galactic Empire.

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**New Alcatraz Prison A.K.A. "The Glacier"; Formerly Ice Island Prototype "Lunar" city, Antarctica**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

**Five Months BBY**

Tristan Palleon looked over the quarters that were to be his new home for an indeterminate amount of time and sighed in weariness. The deal he had worked out with the Sol Council was admittedly not the most ideal situation for the crew of the _Mangle_, but it was something of an improvement. They had the promise of an assured supply of fresh food and water, significant space for exercise, and relatively comfortable accommodations. However they were no longer aboard their ship, having been shuttled in groups down to the planet's southern pole to a domed structure.

The dome, as Tristan had been told, was a prototype for the domed city on the moon, and possible colonies on the fourth planet of the system, and was nearly 90 years old. The dome had a two mile radius, and was hermetically and thermally sealed. Power and heat came from two sources; solar energy cells that collect energy during the summer months, and a nuclear reactor kept in a second, much smaller dome. While the continent had the same atmospheric mix as the rest of the world this city's air was considered fresher since it was supplemented came from plants growing within the dome and a carbon dioxide scrubbing system. Within the interior of the main dome were a large number of prefabrication buildings that had originally been for laboratories and domestic purposes.

After construction of Copernicus City had been completed and the city was brought to full operational status, there was seemingly little reason to keep Ice Island in operation. But economically it made little sense to just shut everything down after all the money and effort went into its construction. The then-President of the Atlantic Federation decided to keep the prototype city in operation as a prison.

Laboratories and manufacturing facilities were removed with the exception of what existed in the power plant. The agriculture plot experiments had been expanded, allowing prisoners the opportunity to grow fresh vegetables to complement the fruit trees that had already been planted and grown to maturity. The people in charge of the conversion process thought it would be good for the incarcerated criminals if they were responsible for growing and preserving a portion of their own food. If they did a good job they would have a bountiful surplus to add to the regular supply shipments. However the only tools they had for use were basic hand tools. Apart from that, the prisoners had access to a few simple machines used for cooking, entertainment, laundry, and sanitation which could be repaired at the power plant's machine shop.

For entertainment, there were televisions equipped in the various common rooms, a library filled with hard-copy literature, exercise equipment, and various sport and game equipment.

Of course there was a complete lack of anything that resembled computer equipment. And stoves and TVs lacked the components that could be scrounged to make anything useful.

There was also little chance that Palleon and his men could rig up something that could get them in contact with the Empire. Palleon had been forewarned that Earth would be keeping their jammers active around the facility, keeping communication limited to what they controlled, and the Imperials had nothing that had the power to break through it. Though, he knew that that wouldn't stop the engineers from trying to scrap something together.

There was even less of a chance of cobbling together something capable of flight, and if there was it would take years and would likely never escape the atmosphere. And hyperspace travel was completely impossible without a significant power source, specifically a hypermatter reactor.

And while the Imperials lived in this dome, everything aboard the _Mangle_ was at the disposal of Earth to study, with the exception of personal items that the crewmen had been allowed to bring down to the surface, after being inspected to make sure the objects couldn't compromise security. And with the exception of some samples, most of the _Mangle's_ food stores had been brought down as well.

Thus the _Mangle's_ crewmen could live reasonably comfortably, but were completely stuck in this ice-encrusted island, while Earth reaped the technological benefits from the _Mangle_, which would be considerable even if it's a 20-year-old-ship. If Tristan ever made it back home, his career was guaranteed to be over. He may even be executed for the mutiny; no, he_ will_ be executed for mutiny if he ever made it back to the Empire. But, as he looked out the window and watched some of his men carry supplies to one of the prefab buildings, he felt contentment knowing that his men would survive.

He also felt a bit of gratitude to one of the guards who, as rumor had it, supplied one of the men with a list of several methods to make a still. The rumor would be confirmed soon enough.

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**Moon: Yavin 4  
Planet: Yavin  
System: Yavin System  
Sector: Gordian Reach  
Region: Outer Rim**

**Five Months BBY**

Jan Dodonna watched from the safety of an observation booth as the humanoid machine walked out of the hangar toward the designated testing grounds. Even from where he was, he could feel feeling small tremors beneath his feet each time the mobile suit took a step. It had taken nearly a month of nonstop working around the clock for Suskafoo and his engineers but already the first project was bearing fruit.

"What sort of modifications did you make to the Dagger?" He asked, curious as to the machine's performance, and comparing it to the original GAT-01A2 Dagger that it was based on.

Though the question was directed at Suskafoo, the Verpine left it to one of his human subordinates to answer since he was unable to speak Basic. "The first thing we did was replace the machine's battery with a modified X-Wing hypermatter reactor. That will increase the machine's power output, but we'll have to observe how fuel efficient it is. We also replaced the old engines with a set of ion engines of our own design, increasing its maximum thrust and fuel capacity greatly. With its standard equipment, it can only achieve about the same speed as a Y-wing. But we're hoping that with the modified Aile equipment we developed, it can reach at least the speed of an X-wing."

"Good, good," muttered Dodonna, already planning the next set of tests.

"Those, sir, were the biggest changes. There are a number of smaller modifications that we hope will enhance its performance, such as the upgrades to the sensors, or the small repulsorlifts we installed to slow and steady descent, or the inertial compensators to protect the pilot from excessive G force."

The rebel engineer didn't continue as Dodonna motioned for silence, the mobile suit having reached its destination.

The test wasn't a major one. It was simply to test the machine's weapons, to ensure that the Rebel Alliance had built them properly, and as a safety check that nothing would overheat and melt, or possibly explode.

The testing ground itself was the cleared area around the Great Temple that the rebels had installed their base in, with the mobile suit on one end and several large plates of durasteel, which were the same thickness and composition as a Star Destroyer's outer hull layer, set up on the other. Overall the length between the sides was about 250 meters, which was a little on the short end but they could test the machine's full range later.

First up was the Dagger's standard beam rifle. With the weapon and mobile suit hooked up to special sensors they would receive all the data from the test, the test pilot of the Dagger brought up the beam rifle and let loose a green lance of energy that struck the first durasteel plate. The charged particle beam had melted a hole clear through the durasteel, and even had enough power to do a little damage to the forest just behind it.

The various beings observing made appreciative sounds, each one knowing full well that a single shot from a starfighter's laser cannon couldn't do that. It might melt out a small hole but it was unlikely to go all the way through.

The mobile suit steadily stored the beam rifle and picked up the weapon for the next test, which would be for the beam sub-machine gun. Although the two weapons operated on a similar principle the sub-machine gun had a reduced power output for each shot but in turn had a greater rate of fire. As before the Dagger's pilot took aim and fired at the second target. It was a short burst of fifteen rounds that did more damage over a larger area, but had less penetrative force.

Finally it was time for the last of the weapon's test which would be for the beam saber. Again storing its current weapon the Dagger drew one of its waist mounted beam sabers and turned to face a third durasteel plate that had been set up its own end of the field for this test. A test that also proved to be a success as the mobile suit demonstrated how the beam saber, essentially a blade of plasma confined by a specialized containment field, sliced through the metal like a vibro-knife through tender nerf steak.

Dodonna smiled as the positive results flashed across every datapad and monitor. The Dagger's design was handling the new reactor and higher power output well within the safety limits. "Alright people that was a good test," he announced over the comm. so everyone involved could hear him. "Now let's pack it up and get ready for the performance and combat tests to be held in one week. By the end of the month I want to have a complete performance evaluation of the Dagger."

The elated buzz from the successful test faded as technicians and engineers went back to work of studying the data for further design refinement. There was little time for rest or celebration for those in the rebellion. Meanwhile in his head Dodonna considered a minor problem. He had said that he wanted to have a record of the mobile suit's full performance by the end of the month, however in order to get that data he needed a pilot who could push the machine to its limits.

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**University of Alderaan**

**City: Aldera**

**Planet: Alderaan  
System: Alderaan System  
Sector: Alderaan Sector  
Region: Core Worlds**

**Five Months BBY**

"Fascinating," murmured Liam as the Coordinator swept through document after document on the holomonitor.

Currently the Junk Guild representative was in the library of the University of Alderaan, a school recognized for being one of the best in the galaxy when it came to studying philosophy, the arts, and the sciences. One of the reasons the school excelled at teaching was because the founder believed in practical application to learning, thus spent his life establishing branch facilities on worlds throughout the galaxy, a practice continued for the thousands of years after his death. Now students of the university spend much of their school life at off-world facilities that most befit their area of study, such as botany students traveling to worlds such as Ithor and other tropical planets where there is a bounty of diverse and exotic plant life to study.

The main campus on Alderaan provided facilities for basic studies in all fields covered by the school, but specialized in the study of philosophy, debate, and politics.

Of particular interest to Liam was how the library possessed a copy of every text and paper that has ever been in possession by the school. As an information resource it was arguable that there was only a handful of locations in that galaxy that surpassed it, such as the Imperial Library on Coruscant.

At the moment he was studying history texts, the Aurebesh translated into a script he could more easily understand, which turned out to be the High Galactic alphabet.

Liam found it incredible that the dominant language of Earth could be virtually identical to Galactic Basic and the High Galactic alphabet, both of which had origins that could be traced back over tens of thousands of years.

The roots of Galactic Basic could be traced as far back as 25,000 years ago where it began as an amalgamation between the languages of early space-faring species, such as humans and Duros, created out of a need for a unified trade language. Aurebesh was created at the same time as the written language of Basic.

The High Galactic alphabet possessed a strong similarity to Earth's Latin alphabet and its origins began as a written language of the human inhabitants of Alsakan some 17,000 years ago, with some aspects borrowed from the Tionese language, another human language that had a remarkable resemblance to ancient Greek. Over the years the script of the influential Alsakan humans was adapted to be used with Basic.

The High Galactic alphabet was never as commonly used as Aurebesh, but it was still known to a reasonable percentage of Basic speakers and because of its purely human origins it was the official written language of the Imperial Court. Even before the rise of the Empire its characters and the characters of the Tionese language were commonly used in designations, such as those used on starships and droids.

Considering the length of time Basic and the High Galactic alphabet have existed, and their own more recent origins on Earth, it was enough to make a person pause and wonder if extraterrestrial civilization had visited Earth over the past few thousand years.

Another facet Liam found interesting in his studies, was that humans of the galactic community do not know what planet their species evolved on. Recorded human history was simply so long, and their communities are so far spread across the galaxy that the knowledge of their origins was lost to time. It didn't help them that none of the known worlds humans live on possess evidence of human evolution.

Currently it is speculated that humans evolved on one of the Core Worlds, with the strongest theory indicating Coruscant as humanities' home. However that world has been covered in cities for so long that virtually all of the native flora and fauna had gone extinct and the lowest depths of the city (which are underground) date back tens of thousands of years. It's also likely that Imperial propaganda has supported this theory to instill in the minds of the masses Coruscant became the capital and metaphorical center of the galaxy because of humans' influence and superiority.

Other theories suggest that one of the advanced ancient races, who disappeared long before humans discovered hyperspace travel, took humans from their ancestral home and transplanted them on other worlds in the galaxy.

But for most humans it didn't matter as they simply identified themselves by whatever planet they were born on and they left the speculating to scholars. However while it was practical it also left humans as a society far more divided than just about any other race in the galaxy.

Still this information was important to Liam. The fossil record on Earth shows evidence of human evolution dating back millions of years. It had gaps but from the data he read it was still far more complete than anything else in the galaxy, suggesting that Earth was indeed the home world of humans. Could an ancient civilization have visited Earth during the early years of human evolution, taken some members of the species, and transplanted them in the galaxy? If so, where did they come from? Were they from a neighboring star system, or at least some other planet in the Unknown Regions? And what sort of impact will this information have on Earth or of other human cultures if they learned of Earth's fossil record?

Another thing Liam wondered was if he could get a copy of everything in the library sent back to Earth for study.

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**Anaheim Electronics Headquarters, Copernicus City**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

**Four Months Three Weeks BBY**

"So Aeolia, how goes the refit of the…_Mangle_ was it?" asked President White as he poured himself a glass of scotch. "That's a terrible name for a ship by the way. It needs a new one"

"Well enough," replied Aeolia to the question, and ignoring the latter comment, as he sipped his own brandy and browsed various documents. "We are repairing the damaged equipment and we can adapt our own equipment to its systems easily enough now that we've converted all of the computers to read our own programming. The difficult part will be adapting their equipment to our systems."

"Really? But what about all of that data the Princess supplied us with?"

"Being able to replicate a design set on blueprints is one thing. Understanding it to the point that we can produce new designs to fit our needs is something else. The technology related to faster than light travel alone has already generated three new branches of mathematics previously unknown to us. However the princess's data has gone a long way to helping us understand. And as the head of a major corporation I must thank the Sol Council for granting my company the right to work on the star destroyer on your behalf." Aeolia paused in his document reading and glanced at the AF president. "You know, I have always thought it was silly, calling yourselves the Sol Council when only members of the Earth Sphere are represented."

White chuckled with a bit of mirth. "Yes, well it's not exactly easy to contact our closest neighbors, since it takes months to travel between worlds even when they are at their closest. And neither the Martian colonies nor the Liteiria colony at Jupiter are particularly trusting of us here on Earth after our last two wars." The mirth in White's eyes left and were replaced by a more somber emotion. His next words were so quiet Aeolia almost didn't hear them, "Especially with the Atlantic Federation."

Schenberg paused and glanced at the man who was currently his corporation's greatest benefactor. But before he could say anything White continued.

"The Junk Guild has volunteered to help bridge the gap. As it turns out one of their most prominent members is on friendly terms with the leaders of both colonies. For their efforts the Council has allowed them access to whatever Imperial tech they can claim as salvage. We're hoping that their experience with varied and unusual technology will give them insights into how it works. That and it would be beneficial for us if they can install some better engines on their ships so they can quickly travel between worlds."

"If that's what you want you better hope that they focus on the remains of TIE fighters. While the _Mangle's_ hypermatter annihilation reactor is currently one of the most powerful energy reactors we have available, its fuel consumption borders on the obscene, and even the PLANTs' are only in the trial runs of refining hypermatter reactant. The TIEs however, we already have an understanding for the basics of both their solar ionization reactor and their ion drives; it all corresponds to research begun in the early 21st century. Its energy efficiency is simply on a scale we've never seen before. It also lacks moving parts, making it simple to understand. As it stands we can easily design and build our own models."

"Wonderful," said White, pleased to hear that at least some of the Imperial tech was already being turned into true Earth technology. "How soon before it's in mass production."

"Not soon enough," said Aeolia with a bit of bitterness that wasn't present before. "While the physical models we are studying are sufficient for TIE fighters, the fact that it relies on ambient solar energy makes it impractical for more energy intensive systems. Fortunately we discovered that the _Mangle's_ computers contained schematics of every spaceship known to the Empire, probably kept there for either cross-ship maintenance training, or to understand any potential enemy's weak point. Thanks to that I learned that larger solar ionization reactors utilize a controlled fusion reaction, characterized as a miniature sun, for their power requirements. However the more powerful the reactor the more shielding is needed contain it and protect those outside, limiting its use to larger vessels."

"It's unfortunate that none of those survived the battle. Now we don't have a physical model to study."

"Yes, however I have been running some simulations and even without such equipment to study I may be able to devise a shielding system by utilizing the 'suspension of free neutron movement' properties of N-jammers. Of course I will need an N-jammer canceller in the system as well, but if it works we could potentially create a smaller and more efficient reactor. As for fuel for the fusion reaction, I have some here for the prototype fusion reactors I am testing but if it is to be mass produced then I will need access to Jupiter. Or at least another planet with an atmospheric composition similar to Jupiter"

"And for access to Jupiter you need to have good relations with Liteiria. To show that we're working in good faith the Sol Council has recognized Liteiria as the first independent Jovian nation with sovereign rights to the Jupiter Sphere. Any new colonies that are established out there will be under the authority of whatever government system Liteiria installs."

"That shouldn't be too difficult," replied Schenberg in reference to obtaining good relations with Liteiria. "Despite the wealth of resources in the Jupiter Sphere, it lacks many of the necessities for human life. Establishing an independent human civilization will be difficult, but the advantages provided by the technology we've obtained should make things much easier."

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**Moon: Yavin 4  
Planet: Yavin  
System: Yavin System  
Sector: Gordian Reach  
Region: Outer Rim**

**Four Months Two Weeks BBY**

"These are the results of the Dagger's latest tests?" Dodonna asked his aid. Having had Alliance business off-world at the time Dodonna had missed the opportunity to be present when the Dagger was tested to the fullest of its limits.

"Yes sir," responded the aid. "The engineers were quite happy with the results and believe that with this data we can further improve the Dagger, taking it from a test machine to a full combat machine."

Dodonna gave a please smile at hearing how happy and excited his men were. "Give them my congratulations, and also to the pilot, Ensign Biggs Darklighter."

"Yes sir," replied the aid again. "Also, the ships and equipment that Viceroy Organa requisitioned is ready."

"That's good. What has been prepared?"

"One HWK-290 light freighter, one YT-1000 light freighter, one YT-1250 light freighter, one YT-1930 light freighter, one HT-2200 medium freighter, one YZ-775 light freighter, one, T-1B hovertank, one T-2B repulsor tank, one T-3B heavy tank, one T-4B heavy tank, one Z-95 Headhunter, one CloakShape fighter, one BTL-A4 Y-wing fighter, one CR90 Corvette, and a few speederbikes, swoops, landspeeders, and airspeeders. And the freighters had been filled with a variety of supplies and equipment. Also Viceroy Organa indicated that an ally of his would be willing to part with a Nebulon-B frigate in exchange for three ships of comparable ability within two years' time."

Dodonna held back a grimace. The items just listed were going to the Alliance's new allies on Earth. Currently they weren't in a state to participate aggressively against the Empire. While Earth had managed to defeat the Imperials on two separate occasions it was thanks to the Empire's unfamiliarity and underestimation of their weapons and technology. Davros had, like a neophyte, allowed his fleet to be encircled simply because he didn't believe that the Earth ships could harm his own despite their greater numbers. The listed materials, along with several technical advisers, were to help bring Earth up to galactic standard.

The reason Dodonna felt like grimacing was because despite the fact that many of the listed ships were decades old, they were still quite usable, and the Alliance, with their limited resources, needed every ship they could get their hands on. That same sentiment also included the tanks and speeders. Still, if it aided Earth in advancing their technology, specifically their ability to develop interstellar ships, everything would be paid 10 times over.

Less important was the equipment. Some of it was specialized, some of it was not, and none of it was really military in nature, but it was comprised of technology not commonly found on Star Destroyers such as the one they were currently studying.

And it wasn't as if the Alliance was giving these ships over for free. Earth had promised resources in return. And the pilots of the ships could begin scouting out viable hyperspace paths to nearby systems that the Alliance could hopefully use to establish bases.

That was another key advantage to the alliance with Earth, access to the Unknown Regions. Although it had weakened over the past few centuries, the hyperspace disturbance that long separated that 15 percent of the galaxy was still a formidable barrier, if only because of pilots' fear of running into it. And with the Imperials having shut down every independent exploration venture they had been hampered from even uncovering new hyperspace routes even in long established areas such as the Outer Rim. But now the Alliance had not only a safe route into the Unknown Regions but also had a staging point to begin their explorations. Within a few years that sector of space could be a safe haven from which the Alliance could rest, repair, organize, build strength, and strike at the Empire.

The one downside was that since it was on the edge of the known galaxy it could not really serve as a staging point against prime Imperial targets.

"Send the pilots to me. I'll will brief them on their mission and provide them the route details to their destination. Dismissed."

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**Planet: Abregado-rae  
System: Abregado  
Sector: Southern Core  
Region: Core**

**3 months 1 weeks BBY**

"This certainly is a colorful place," commented Shiho as she examined her surroundings in the well-maintained cantina that existed within the Abredgado-rae spaceport. The architecture utilized two rectangular rooms that met at a 60 degree angle and possessing a bar in the center of each with three smaller private rooms branching off from the main ones. The main rooms each had an entrance and several decorative nooks, crannies, and arches so that patrons could have semi-privacy while still maintaining easy access to the bars.

Shiho Hahnenfuss and her party of three sat within one of those arches, walls and distance keeping others from eavesdropping over the music. However, despite the seemingly lively atmosphere of the well-kept watering hole, one member of the party felt the need to remind the other two of some hard facts.

"Just be careful," warned Bria Tharen, "this place is far more dangerous than it appears." The woman, whose features were hidden beneath the headdress that kept everything but her eyes hidden, was a native of Corellia and a member of the Alliance who had extensive experience dealing with representatives from organizations interested in aiding the cause. To emphasize her point she nodded to two passing beings, a human and a species identified as a Rodian, who were openly wearing blasters on their waists. Not unlike the ones that Shiho, Bria, and even Miriallia were wearing.

But even if all three women were armed that didn't change the fact that the Abregado-rae spaceport was a common stopping point for smugglers, and other more violent elements of the criminal world. That was surprising to the Earthlings considering how oppressive the government on the planet was.

Abregado-rae is a Core world that has a close proximity to the border of Wild Space and possesses a fairly strong manufacturing industry, a very weak tourist industry, and most importantly sat at the beginning of the Rimma Trade Route. But what made it an ideal stopping point for the Earth representatives was the political environment. Abregado-rae was ruled directly by the Empire through an appointed governor who shipped half the planet's tax income off-world to the Imperial Treasury, after taking what was needed to pay his salary. He then spent roughly thirty percent on law enforcement and projects to improve the spaceport as it is imperative for the trade industry. Finally the remaining paltry twenty percent of the taxes was returned in some way to the tax payers, such as utilities or other public services. However while the local government was pro-Empire, and had the weapons to impose its will on the world, the civilians were more pro-Alliance, they just couldn't act upon their feelings except in small ways or else risk looking down the barrel of a blaster.

It was a good world for the Earth representatives to visit, being just the right amount of being oppressed yet without the horrors witnessed on Raltiir.

Speaking of Earth's representatives, Bria was beginning to wonder where the others were. It was already 10 minutes past the agreed upon rendezvous time. As if in answer a tone came from her comlink, telling her there was an incoming transmission. Bringing the comlink to her lips she quietly said, "This is Group 1."

The voice that responded was Group 2's guide. "Group 1, this is Group 2 and we have a problem."

Bria tensed for a second at the thought of what the trouble might be. "What's the situation?"

"Well, we kind of got into a speeder accident with a Wookie."

Bria blinked. That, has far as she knew, was not a code indicating trouble. "Come again?"

"We were on our way back when we crashed our speeder into a Wookie's speeder. No one's hurt, but the problem is that the Wookie is throwing a fuss and won't let use leave."

Bria sighed as she realized what was going on. "And none of you can speak Shyriiwook, but I can, which is why you're calling me."

"Right, so we were hoping you could get here and translate before the local law enforcement gets here."

"Very well," said Bria quickly memorizing the location she was told. "Sorry girls," she said as she put the communicator away and got up. "I'm afraid I need to smooth over some problems with Group 2. Do you mind waiting here for Group 3?"

"Not at all, this place has enough to keep us occupied" responded Miriallia as she did her best to watch a reptilian creature with a Y-shaped head and golden bug eys passing by without getting noticed.

With a nod Bria got up and left, speaking again on her comlink on how to keep Wookie's from tearing your arms off, leaving the two Earthlings alone.

With their host gone the two were left nothing more to do than go over their reports of the planet as they waited for the others to return. Twenty minutes later and the two began to become a little worried as they hadn't heard anything from Group 3.

"Where is everyone?" wondered Miriallia aloud as she scrolled through the memory of her camera. "It's a half hour past the time we agreed to meet."

"I don't know," responded Shiho. "They might have gotten lost or lost track of time. But it's not like we're in a hurry, we have time."

If Miriallia was going to say anything else it was interrupted as small metallic objects flew through the open windows. Shiho reacted and pulled Mir down just as the objects released a sonic shockwave. Shiho felt her bones and eardrums vibrate as the intense sonic waves were conducted to her brain. The patrons of the cantina cried in pain and confusion as their senses were overloaded, many becoming paralyzed.

Shiho and Mir were on the edge of one of the shockwaves and were able to see as soldiers, dressed in the grey fatigues of Imperial Army troopers, carrying E-11 blaster rifles and wearing plasteel armor marched in. The troopers spread out to the various patrons, running some kind of scanner over them. Depending on the scanners reaction the troopers either left them alone or hauled them up and carried them out. If anyone was able to resist they were stunned and carried out.

One trooper moved to inspect the Earthlings and Mir, who had suffered more from the sonic grenades due to being a Natural and was only just beginning to recover, jerked at the sudden appearance of the trooper and accidentally hit the flash button of her camera. The bright and sudden light didn't affect the trooper thanks to the anti-flash lenses of his goggles but he still reacted, hitting Miriallia with a stun bolt. The trooper moved to grab Mir, which caused Shiho to react.

The Coordinator leaped forward, punching the trooper in his unprotected neck. She then swept the troopers legs out from underneath him, grabbing his rifle as he fell. Once he hit the ground Shiho used the rifle to send a stun bolt into trooper.

Her actions did not go unnoticed as another trooper shot a stun bolt at her. The bolt hit and Shiho cried in pain as fire burned across her nerves. Her leg muscles gave out and she fell to the floor. Her vision swimming, Shiho was barely conscious and could barely comprehend as she watched the booted feet of a trooper stomp up to her. Then the world went black as a second stun bolt hit her.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Outside the Cantina, Group 3 watched as Imperial troopers carried various creatures away. They had been halted from entering because of the operation the troopers were undergoing to catch a band of pirates. They also couldn't warn Group 1 inside because of the jamming.

"Damn," muttered Morgan as he spotted Shiho and Mir among the beings being carried away. "The council is not going to like this."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

**Anaheim Electronics Main facility**

**Copernicus City**

**Planet: Earth  
System: Sol  
Sector: Unregistered  
Region: Unknown Regions**

"So Yzak, any idea why we were called here?" asked Dearka as the two waited in the rather large office of Anaheim Electronic founder and president Aeolia Schenberg.

"Not a clue," responded the silver haired commander. "Whatever this old man wants, nobody briefed me on it."

"Old man eh?"

Yzak and Dearka practically jumped where they stood, taken completely by surprise by the silent entry of the room's new occupants.

"Are you sure these two are really the best selection?" Aeolia asked the young man standing next to him, a little ticked at the old man reference.

"They often tend to shoot off at the mouth Mr. Schenberg," said Kira. "But they are two of ZAFT's best pilots. And they'll have motivation for the mission."

"Yamato," said Yzak neutrally when he saw Kira. Despite its tone it was a greeting though a highly informal one for an individual who was technically a superior officer. "Why are we here, and whose she?" with a nod of his head Yzak indicated the woman standing on Kira's other side.

She was dressed up in some kind of black uniform that the ZAFT pilots didn't recognize. She was also quite distinguishable, by Earth standards at least, by possessing shoulder length snow-white hair (which was as noticeable as Yzak's silver hair) yet she was quite young, maybe in her late teens or early twenties. Another thing the pilots noticed was that she looked almost exactly like Princess Leia. In fact they could be sisters.

"This is Winter Retrac, an intelligence agent of the Rebel Alliance," Kira said in introduction. "Ms. Retrac, these two are Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman, two of ZAFT's best pilots and my personal recommendation for the mission."

"Mission?" Dearka wondered aloud. If an Alliance intelligence agent was here that must mean that whatever mission it was involved the outer galaxy.

"You two should probably sit down for this," Kira warned.

The two pilots gave each other a quick look. Dearka took the advice but Yzak remained standing.

"Twenty hours ago we received word that Shiho and Mir were captured Imperial Troopers."

"WHAT!" The shout was practically deafening. In less than a second Yzak was at Kira, gripping the front of his coat in a threatening manner, just barely beating Dearka who took extra time to stand up.

"What do you mean Shiho was captured! Why! What happened!" snarled Yzak.

"And Mir! Is she alright! Was she hurt!" asked the more frantic Dearka. Ever since they first started dating Dearka had developed a sense to protect Mir, due to how he used the Buster to protect the Archangel in the first war.

Yzak was going to say something else when a very solid object cracked him on the head. "OW!" Shouted Yzak again, turning to glare at old man Aeolia whose cane was up to deliver another whack.

"If you're done with the hysterics we can move on to detail the rescue mission."

Yzak gave Kira one last glare before releasing him and stepping back, Dearka following his lead.

"Are you sure these two are the best for the mission?" Winter asked Kira.

Kira lightly chuckled at her obvious skepticism. "Like I said, they're good pilots and they're motivated. They'll also probably do better piloting the new machines than anyone else we have."

Kira's brief moment of mirth was brought to an end by Yzak.

"Alright Yamato, start talking. What's going on?"

Knowing that they would be easier to deal with once they had details to focus on he was about to brief them before Aeolia spoke.

"Let's walk and talk, we don't have a lot of time." He said as left the office through a different door that led down a flight of steps. The others quickly followed.

"A little over twenty hours ago Imperial Security troopers raided a cantina at the Abregado-rae. The purpose of the raid was to capture members of a pirate crew that they had been informed as there at the time. During the operation something happened and both Miriallia and Shiho were arrested on the charges of assaulting an Imperial soldier, but they could be labeled as accomplices or even as members of the arrested pirates. Thanks to the Alliance we know that if they are tried with the former they'll be jailed at an Abregado-rae prison for 5 years. If they are tried with the latter they will be sent to the prison world Kessel for hard labor."

"That's bull," Dearka practically shouted as they walked down a barren hallway. "We can't let the girls be sent to an Imperial prison on some trumped up charges!" Dearka tactically left out that they could let the girls to a prison even on true charges.

"I know," responded Kira as they entered a hexagonally shaped control room. Through the observation windows they could see marked containers arranged to surround the room, one visible through each of the five window panes. "Which is why we're working with the Alliance to rescue them."

The woman, Winter, stepped forward. "Currently the Alliance is undergoing an operation to acquire sensitive information. However this information is protected by Darth Vader."

Because Yzak and Dearka were among the first group to make contact with the Alliance they knew more than the average person, though information about the galaxy was spreading at an alarming rate, so they knew just by hearing Darth Vader how steep a mission was. Darth Vader was the second most powerful man in the Empire; the one who executed the Emperor's will and served as Supreme Commander of the Empire's military. Any information he was regulated to guard had to be extremely valuable.

But that left a question.

"What does that have to do with a rescue mission?" asked Yzak.

"We hope that by initiating a prison break utilizing machines completely unknown to the Empire, we can draw Vader's attention away from key aspects of the operation," Winter explained. "So the Alliance has requested that Earth send some mobile suits as the forefront of the operation. The Alliance will send Z-95 headhunter starfighters and shuttles for support. The prison Ms. Haw and Hahnenfuss are held also holds a number of Rebel supporters whom we can free at the same time. This will help hide Ms. Haw and Hahnenfuss's importance."

"I'm glad you have this thought out," said Yzak, the normally sarcastic tone that would accompany these words absent as he focused on the details. "But our mobile suits can't exactly enter and exit the atmosphere at will, they can't fly as far or fast as your starfighters, without a properly equipped support ship to return to they'll run out of energy, and if we don't have N-Jammers they can try picking us off at range."

The response came from Aeolia. "Yes, the mission does seem impractical with your old machines. So you will be piloting these new mobile suits." He hit a command on the console and in response the doors to the second and third containers opened.

As Yzak and Dearka watched their eyes widened and unconsciously stepped right up to the glass to get a closer look

"Is that the Duel…" began Yzak.

"And Buster…" finished Dearka.

"Not quite," clarified Aeolia. "These machines are the Nebula and the Solar, new prototypes designed to test hybridized systems combining our most advanced mobile suit technologies with galactic standard technologies obtained through studying the remains of the imperial ships and what the Alliance has provided. Their base frames and controls are based upon two of the Blu Duel and Verde Buster, descendants of the machines you piloted three years ago. So it shouldn't take long for the two of you to adjust to their capabilities."

The two Coordinators studied the mobile suits. They immediately recognized the strong resemblance they had to the Blu Duel and Verde Buster. As the original pilots of the Duel and Buster they had been briefed about the new Earth Alliance machines so they could identify weaknesses that could be exploited. Still, despite how they were nearly identical there were some distinct differences.

The Nebula was almost identical, but its shield was thicker than the Blu Duel's, likely containing a beam shield generator. The railgun had been moved from under the shield to behind the right shoulder, with a second one mirroring it on the left shoulder. Finally there were two solid swords mounted on its hips.

The Solar had a more extensively modified external appearance. Its chest armor had been expanded, grenades had been mounted on the waist, and missile pods had been mounted on the legs. The more noticeable modification was the large backpack, which looked to have been based on the Legend's backpack as it contained 10 DRAGOON pods.

"You said there were five prototypes," said Dearka, not taking his eyes off of the Solar. "Where are the pilots for the other three?"

"The first prototype has already been taken by its pilot for their own assignment," answered Kira. "And the last two machines aren't finished yet. You two will be the only ones going."

Yzak nodded in understanding. Truthfully he wouldn't have let himself be held back even if he was limited to an old GINN. "When do we start?"

"Right now. You have twenty-four hours before you leave for the mission to train on the machines. Winter will brief you on the specifics of the mission and what you should expect to fight."

"And try not to get the prototypes destroyed," added Aeolia. "They each cost as much as a battleship to develop and it would be arduous to try and take compensation from your paychecks."

Yzak and Dearka were not sure if Aeolia was joking.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

**Author's Notes:** Again I don't quite make it to where I want, yet there is far more than I originally intended. It's only recently that I have figured out just how arduous it is to write about two civilizations of this scale with so many differences meeting and coming together. It's just fortunate that there is so much established canon information to fall back on.

Despite what I have written there is still a lot that I have planned going on that I just can't seem to work into the story such as how the Rebel Alliance setup a series of communications satellites that lead through the known entrance into the Unknown Regions to make communication with Earth possible and reliable. And I really can't think of any way to write about Mars and Jupiter joining the Sol Council, mainly because overall they are not that important to the story. Well, Mars isn't. I have some ideas that make Jupiter important, but again I am having trouble figuring out a way to more directly involve that in the story.

Anyway, this chapter was more setup for events for the future. There will be a battle in the next chapter which is only partially written but I have a strong idea of how I want it to go. I give thanks to Tellemicus Sundance for helping me work it out a year ago. I also thank him for the five Gundam OCs he provided me a year ago, two of which are introduced in this chapter. I hope you don't mind but I made some slight modifications. Nothing major I just changed the placement of some weapons like the Nebula's Stilettos and the Solar's beam sabers.

Also, although I didn't respond to your private message, I liked your idea for the Nova and I will go with it. I believe I have figured out a way to make it all work.

Finally some thanks go to SkywalkerT-65. I will admit that his recent bout of chapter posting in recent weeks has somewhat spurred me on to complete this chapter.

**Mechanics:** (These Gundams are the creation of and thus the property of Tellemicus Sundance who has allowed me to use his creations in my story. So any praise or criticisms should go to him. Any comments directed at me should only be about how I use them.)

**NEBULA GUNDAM **(developed from the Blu Duel)**  
****Model number:** GAT-X122  
**Unit type:** prototype close combat mobile suit  
**Manufacturer:** Anaheim Electronics  
**Operator:** Earth Alliance  
**First deployment:** CE 74  
**Accommodation:** pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
**Dimensions:** head height 16.89 meters  
**Weight:** max gross weight 84.24 metric tons  
**Armor materials:** unknown  
**Powerplant:** prototype hypermatter reactor, power output rating unknown  
**Equipment and design features:  
**Galactic Phase Shift (GPS) Armor, _experimental_  
Inertia Dampeners, _experimental_  
Repulsorlifts, _experimental_  
Sensors, range unknown  
Solar Shield generator, _experimental (Star Wars beam shield)_  
**Fixed armaments:**  
2 x M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm automatic CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head  
1 x shield, mounted on right arm  
1 x MX2200 beam shield generator, mounted on shield  
2 x M7G2 retractable beam gun, mounted on forearms, hand-carried in use  
2 x M443 "Scorpion" railgun, mounted over shoulder when in use  
**Optional hand armaments:**  
2 x MMI-599 "Ensis" Phase Shift sword, stored on hips  
3 x Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator, stored in left shoulder, hand-carried in use  
2 x ES05A beam saber, mounted on legs, hand-carried in use

**SOLAR GUNDAM**(developed from the Verde Buster)**  
Model number:** GAT-X133  
**Unit type:** prototype artillery mobile suit  
**Manufacturer:** Anaheim Electronics  
**Operator:** Earth Alliance  
**First deployment:** unknown  
**Accommodation:** pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso  
**Dimensions:** head height 18.46 meters  
**Weight:** max gross weight 99.36 metric tons  
**Armor materials:** unknown  
**Powerplant:** prototype hypermatter reactor, power output rating unknown  
**Equipment and design features:**  
DRAGOON (Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network)  
Galactic Phase Shift (GPS) Armor, _experimental_  
Inertia Dampeners, _experimental_  
Mirage Colloid Stealth System  
Repulsorlifts, _experimental_  
Sensors, range unknown  
Solar Shield generator, _experimental (Star Wars beam shield)_  
**Fixed armaments:**  
1 x 94mm high-energy beam cannon, mounted on backpack over left shoulder  
1 x 350mm gun launcher, mounted on backpack over right shoulder  
2 x dual ion cannon, mounted in chest (_experimental_)  
2 x 6-tube proton torpedo launcher, mounted on shoulders  
2 x MX2200 beam shield generator, mounted on forearms  
2 x 4-tube multipurpose missile launcher, mounted on shins  
**Optional hand armaments:**  
2 x M9009B composite bayonette-equipped beam rifle, can be combined into one rifle, stored on backpack when not in use  
4 x proton grenade, stored on waist  
2 x MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam saber, stored on knees  
**Remote weapons:**  
2 x (beam spike equipment type): GDU-X7 assault beam machine gun, mounted on backpack  
8 x (general type): GDU-X5 assault beam machine gun, mounted on backpack and waist

**PS.** If you see something really odd with the format of the chapter please inform me. I am in a rush as I post this and don't have time to check for all of the things the Doc Manager messes up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Growth of a Seed**

"Speaking"

"_Radio_"

'_Thoughts_'

**Location**

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**Chapter 7**

**Planet: Milvayne  
System: Gyrica  
Region: Inner Rim**

**3 months BBY**

The planet Milvayne was an unimpressive world. It orbited an average yellow primary, was of average size with average gravity, and possessed an average variety of environments and biospheres. It did not reside on any of the major hyperspace lanes so in-system traffic was fairly light with trade limited to what industrial goods the planet exported and imported.

The planet did possess a number of industrial factories, the most important of which is a Sienar Fleet Systems manufacturing plant. Its manufacturing line focused mostly on spare parts and ship components that are shipped off-world, but it did produce a handful of TIEs each year. Milvayne also possesses several minor durasteel and quadanium steel refineries. But again these hardly set it apart as such facilities existed on thousands of worlds.

But these facilities were enough to get an Imperial garrison on the planet. And it was this garrison that made Milvayne a target for a Rebel strike force, much to the irritation of two of the pilots participating in the operation.

_**Flashback**_

"What do you mean we're not in the prison break operation?" Yzak yelled at Winter.

Kira gripped Yzak's shoulder in the event he needed to quickly restrain the temperamental Coordinator. "Calm down Yzak, she has a reason."

"Yes," Winter agreed to the statement. "Currently the two representatives are being held in the Abregado-rae prison. While the prison is used to incarcerate a number of Rebel sympathizers, to the Empire's knowledge none of them have enough value to warrant a rescue attempt using advanced new machines. Using the mobile suits in this situation would just tip the Empire off that there was someone there of importance. An investigation from there could lead the Imperials back to the other representatives, which would lead back to Alderaan and potentially the Alliance. We cannot underestimate Imperial Intelligence in this situation."

"If we're not part of the operation than how are Mir and Shiho getting out of there?" asked Dearka.

Winter held up a palm-sized circular device that when activated projected a holographic image of a furry bipedal creature that wore armor, a bandoleer, and a headband. "By luck Captain Lochacca, leader of the Void Wings pirates, wasn't captured with his crew due to a delay caused by a speeder accident. We managed to keep his ships out of Imperial hands and he has agreed to work with us to break open the prison to retrieve his crew, your people, and any other enemies of the Empire locked away there. The operation will be designed to look like the vengeful strike of an angry Wookie."

Yzak took a look at the holographic image and pointed out a serious flaw in the plan. "He's a pirate, how can we trust him?"

"Aside from it being mutually beneficial, Wookie's are, by societal traditions, one of the most honorable and loyal creatures in the galaxy to their allies and one of the most terrible foes to their enemies. As it stands all Wookies hold resentment to the Empire for the occupation of their home world and the enslavement of their people. And while the Void Wings are pirates they aren't known to commit the atrocities that other pirate gangs are famed for."

"OK, then what do you need us for?"

Winter tapped a button the holo-emitter, changing the image from a Wookie to a planet. "This is Milvayne, home to a small number of Imperial controlled manufacturing plants and a military garrison. Alliance High Command has determined the garrison on this planet is a prime target for an assault. The basic outline of the plan is to enter the system, subdue the defenders, raid the Empire's garrison and warehouses for weapons and material, leave a SpecForce cell to disrupt future Imperial activity on Milvayne, and leave the system"

"Is the material that important?" asked Dearka.

"While the material will help us, there's nothing essential that we can't acquire through other means," answered Winter.

"Than what's the point!" said Yzak, shouting once more.

It was Kira who answered, "For image and morale. Right now the Alliance, the largest known armed resistance organization, doesn't even have a millionth of the Empire's resources or man power, and the fight for freedom seems hopeless against the Imperial War Machine. But if the Rebel's show that they can fight and win with numerically inferior forces, and not just this time but also the next time, and the time after that, and the time after that, than others across the galaxy, entire populations, planets, systems, and sectors, will rise up against the Empire. That is the Alliance's goal."

Dearka whistled, "Damn Kira, since when have you been so good at this strategy stuff?"

Winter also looked impressed and gave a brief nod of her head to Kira's analysis. "You're correct Commander Yamato, but you forgot something. If the operation is successful, than the Empire will be faced with two choices, they can either reinforce Milvayne with additional garrisons and ships to defend it against future attacks, drawing military resources away from other locations, or pull its army out to focus on more important worlds and leave Milvayne's defense to local security which will allow the Alliance to operate more freely in that system."

While Winter was adding her piece to Kira's analysis Yzak and Dearka conferred with each other. It went against their nature to hold off and let someone else rescue the girls; they wanted to be there to make sure it was done right and as Dearka said not going cost them an invaluable opportunity to be the girls' knights in shining armor. But ultimately they had to listen to reason and agree that everything they had been told made sense.

"All right," said Yzak, voicing the two's decision to concede. "What's the plan of attack?"

_**Flashback End**_

As Milvayne continued on its orbital path a number of contacts appeared, exiting hyperspace by using Milvayne's mass shadow to pull them from the sub-dimension.

The ships are part of a Rebel strike force that is composed of one modified CR90 Corvette, four GR-75 Gallofree transports, 12 Z-95 Headhunter starfighters, 6 BTL Y-wing starfighters, and 6 brand new T-65 X-wing starfighters.

And while any observing Imperials may or may not recognize the X-wings, there were two more machines that they would not have recognized. In fact if they were using knowledge of what they were familiar with they probably would have considered the machines to be some sort of prototypes that were left over from the Clone Wars.

But these were not 20 year old droid prototypes. These machines were brand new and were controlled by a human hand.

And through various monitors and sensor equipment Winter was keeping an eye on the pilots and their vitals. Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman had only a week to prepare for this battle, and six of those days had been spent aboard the corvette, the _Sundered Heart_, traveling to get to Milvayne. The two had adapted to their machine quite well, surprisingly well considering the differences in performance. But such a transition wasn't unheard of; it was well known in the Alliance that pilots familiar with a T-16 Skyhopper could pilot an X-wing with no additional training due to the similarities of the flight controls. And an X-wing was a completely different beast from a Skyhopper.

Still, despite their apparent skill this would be the first battle, simulations aside, where the two would exit hyperspace, engage the enemy in space, then descend through the planet's atmosphere to engage the enemy on the ground, re-ascending and exiting the atmosphere, and finally jumping through hyperspace to get away from the system. So Winter had been tasked of monitoring the Coordinator's progress, though due to the sensitive nature of her work everyone else had been informed that she was an engineer assigned to monitor the prototype machines, which she was so the Alliance could gather data for their own mobile suit development.

"Captain," the sensor officer alerted the _Sundered Heart's_ captain, "Imperial patrol cruiser on an intercept course. They're querying us for identification and our purpose in system."

Ramyus Antilles, temporarily reassigned from his post aboard the _Tantive IV_, called up a holo-image of the approaching ship. As expected of the planet's defenses it was a _Tartan_-class patrol cruiser. Introduced shortly after the establishment of the New Order these 250 meter long vessels had high speed engines and were armed with 20 laser cannons. Though possessing only a fourth of the newer _Lancer's_ firepower _Tartan's_ were still excellent ships for countering starfighter raids.

"All starfighters and freighters pull away 20 degrees to port and continue towards primary target. Helm, pull us forward, we'll be their shield. Initiate ECM protocols and jam their transmissions." A _Tartan's_ cannons and targeting computers had greater range than a starfighter's, allowing the patrol cruiser to engage at range, weakening the strike force as TIEs were called up from the planet. But in a one on one engagement a standard CR90 is considered an even match for a _Tartan_.

The ships did as he commanded and rolled down and to the left. At the same time, the _Sundered Heart's_ modified engines roared, propelling the corvette forward to place itself between its fellow Rebel vessels and the patrol cruiser. But one other machine followed along.

"_Captain Antilles, I have a plan to deal with the _Tartan," said Dearka as the Solar pulled up alongside the larger vessel.

"What plan, Lieutenant?"

"_A plan to take the ship as a prize. Work with me to bring down the shields and let me take care of it from there._"

Raymus looked to Winter, knowing her true purpose aboard the ship, silently asking for a recommendation on whether or not to follow the Earthling's lead. Winter nodded her approval that they follow Dearka's plan and Antilles granted it.

"Enemy is within weapons range."

"Activate the N-Jammer and tell gunners that they are free to fire until they have a confirmed shield drop."

With those orders the powerful N-Jammer that was installed in the ship was activated, generating a disruptive field with a radius over twenty kilometers that interfered with traditional communications, sensors, and targeting systems. The _Sundered Heart_ however had been modified to compensate. Its targeting computers now supplemented by visual data cameras and targeting lasers to provide firing solutions and additional lasers were used as line-of-sight communication intermediaries for short range communication.

Once activated the gunners oriented as many of the ship's turbolasers and laser cannons on the _Tartan_ as was possible, and let loose upon the Imperial ship, releasing crimson bolts of energy as quickly as the energy capacitors could recharge.

In response the _Tartan's_ port laser cannons began spewing emerald bolts of energy at the CR90. Its bolts weren't as powerful but were numerically superior.

When the hostilities started Dearka flew the Solar two kilometers straight up to get out of the two ship's line of fire, than angled himself to face the patrol cruiser that was still a good 10 kilometers out. Dearka smiled as the Solar's computer bracketed the _Tartan_ and used the threat assessor and data stored in its memory to high-light critical sections such as the laser cannons and deflector shield emitter. A secondary monitor popped up showing an estimation of the ship's estimated shield strength. Ruby turbolaser bolts soared toward the Imperial patrol cruiser, some missing their mark while others hit, splashing across the shields.

"Let's go," Dearka shouted as he pushed the Gundam forward and down on a direct course for the _Tartan_. Several laser cannons redirected to fire upon the mobile suit, but a little four-directional sliding was more than to avoid the sensor jammed weapons. When the rangefinder said that the distance between the Gundam and the ship was two kilometers, Dearka maneuvered the mobile suit to swing the legs forward. "Go Solar!" The Gundam's eyes flashed as the AI deployed the DRAGOON pods which rushed to their assigned points as concussion missiles raced from the leg-mounted launchers.

The eight missiles accelerated at a tremendous rate thanks to the Solar's momentum, crossing the void in a matter of two seconds to impact upon the _Tartan's_ weakened shield. The first six to strike generated brilliant explosions of energy that shined brilliantly thanks to the reflective nature of the deflectors, and were enough to bring down the shields as the last two impacted the hull. The second it was confirmed the shields were down the DRAGOON pods fired, the beams destroying multiple laser cannons, the primary communications array, and the deflector shield generator.

Tremors rocked the ship as the multiple explosions occurred. Sending a brief "stop attacking" message to the _Sundered Heart_ before it could demolish the now shield-less Imperial craft Dearka closed the distance to this ship in moments, halting right in front of the bridge. The Solar gripped the ship to maintain its position as the cameras directed their vision through the transparisteel window into the bridge where the crew had paused in shock. Dearka than opened a comm line to the ship.

"Imperial patrol cruiser, this is the Rebel Alliance, almost half you guns and your shield generator are destroyed. Surrender and leave the ship via escape pods and no further harm will come to you. Continue fighting and I will blow open the bridge and every other section of the ship. You have one minute to decide."

Turns out they didn't need to wait one minute. As soon as Dearka had finished speaking the captain had hightailed it out of the bridge with his command crew only a second behind him. 30 seconds later escape pods began jettisoning out into space. Within two minutes the _Tartan_ was clear of life signs, according to the _Sundered Heart's_ sensors after the N-Jammer was momentarily disengaged.

"Good work Elsman," congratulated Antilles as the _Sundered Heart_ was brought alongside the Imperial craft. "We're deploying a team to sweep the ship and jump it so a safe system. Regroup with the others."

()()()()()

As the _Sundered Heart_ and Solar were dealing with the patrol cruiser, the starfighters and freighters were approaching the planet at combat speed.

As they approached the upper atmosphere the pilots were alerted to 6 vessels rising through the atmosphere that the computers identified as TIE fighters.

'_Only six,_' thought Yzak as he analyzed the situation. '_The cruiser must have called for reinforcements before we jammed it. But there's not even a full squadron. Must have been on patrol and sent ahead. Chances are the garrison is scrambling the rest of their fighters._' Yzak's wasn't the only one thinking that as the Major who was second in command of this operation ordered Green Squadron, the six X-Wings to intercept while the main battle group went on ahead. From what Yzak knew this was a fairly sound judgment as the 6 starfighters pulled away and accelerated. Those X-wings were fresh off the assembly line and were among the first to be used in actual combat. The chances the pilots of this garrison were familiar with X-wing capabilities, let alone trained to fight against them, were exceptionally low. Even if they did, these were new model X-wings with a few surprises.

The distance closed between the X-wings and TIEs as they approached each other in a head to head attack vector.

The two starfighter groups approached each other at an angle. The X-wings had positioned themselves so the TIEs would be silhouetted by the planet's reflected light. The TIEs picked up speed as they continued towards the Rebels main fighter group, no doubt intent on carrying out a slashing attack the freighters.

Yzak had little doubt that the Imperial pilots were intending to hit the large freighters before using their superior speed to run away rather than get into a dogfight with the numerically superior Rebel force. But they should have been more wary of the X-wings. Too far away for lasers Green One and Green Two acquired a visual lock, aided by the planet's light, and launched a proton torpedo each at the two leading TIEs. The Imperial fighters began jinking but it was too little too late as the nimble munitions bared down on them. The first managed to jink out of the way, but the torpedo's proximity sensor detected the starfighter as it passed and detonated the warhead. The resulting shockwave ripped the quandanium steel of the nearest pylon and damaged the engine, sending the TIE careening out of control in a death dive into the planet's gravity well.

The second TIE was hit directly; blossoming into a cloud of debris and fire that a third TIE that was just a little further behind had the misfortune of flying through. A reasonably intact solar panel rammed into the cockpit, and because of the opposing high velocities the two masses were flying, crashed thought the viewport and crushed the pilot.

Having been reduced by half and facing insurmountable odd the remaining three pilots opted to make a tactical withdrawal, adjusting their course to fly back down to the surface where reinforcements were no doubt gathering. The X-wings were in hot pursuit, trying to close the gap to laser weapon range, but the TIEs superior speed kept them well ahead. The only way to overtake the Imperials was to ignore safety protocols, which was what Yzak was going to do.

As they hit the upper atmosphere Yzak set the controls to full manual, cut power to the repulsorlifts by half, and shunted all available power to shields and the phase shift armor. It didn't go unnoticed as the Nebula's velocity increased it started to glow red from friction heat.

"Nebula! What are you doing!" shouted Green Leader. "You're going too fast and your reentry angle is too steep!"

Keeping most of his attention on the controls and sensors Yzak sent back a response. "Don't worry; my people have handled this degree of reentry before." '_Granted I've never successfully done it. But if Zala can do it in a ZAKU than I can do it in the Nebula_.'

Even with the cooling systems working overtime the cockpit temperature quickly skyrocketed, soaring to temperatures that would have killed an ordinary human. Fortunately Yzak was not ordinary. As a Coordinator his body could withstand greater degrees of stress, but even he felt that he was pushing the boundaries of his body's limits as it was pushed back into the pilot's chair by the G forces that had overwhelmed the inertial compensator. But the effects were quite noticeable as he pulled ahead of the main group, and even overtook the TIEs, though he was in no position to shoot them down.

Finally, when he reached the optimal descent range, just before he felt like he was going to pass out, Yzak brought power to the repulsorlifts, slowing down the Nebula. From his vantage point he could make out the Imperial garrison. As he expected from the briefings the structure was large and divided into three sections. The lowest section consisted of six individual levels and was well over sixty meters tall. It was a hexagonal shape hundreds of meters long and wide, with a single heavy laser cannon mounted at each point of the hexagon. The second section, consisting of levels 7-8, was composed of three hangar/launch chute structures, and each had a duel heavy turbolaser cannon. The final section was a tower that housed long range sensors and communications.

As he got closer he could identify TIEs launching from the second section while troops and ground vehicles deployed from the lower section and began taking defensive positions in trenches and defensive walls that had strategically placed around the base.

Yzak aimed the Nebula towards his chosen landing point, a section of ground situated between the wall and defensive fortifications. It would box him in, but to land farther out would risk encountering anti-tank mines. He had less than a minute to cause as much damage as possible before the starfighters arrived. The Y-wings would bomb the ground while the Z-95s and X-wings sought to eliminate the TIEs to achieve air superiority for when the Rebel ground forces finally managed to unload from the freighters and arrive.

The base's cannon emplacements rotated up and opened fire on the Nebula, forcing Yzak to execute several hard maneuvers to avoid the deluge of fire. The TIEs swarming around, about fifteen according to his computer, had yet to take an interest, focusing instead on forming a screen that would protect the base from an air attack. That probably had to do with the jamming field being produced by the freighters' N-Jammers. By now the freighters would have split into individual groups that would land at roughly equidistant points surrounding the base, generating a jamming field that completely surrounded the garrison.

But he wasn't completely ignored as three AT-STs and a pair of 2-M Saber tanks moved to surround his estimated landing zone, each vehicle angling their weapons to target the Nebula. Yzak rolled his mobile suit to avoid the first barrage of laser fire and concussion grenades, pulled out his four ranged weapons, and put on a burst of speed. The rail guns fired upon the scout transports as he concentrated the beam pistols on the tanks. The high velocity rounds tore through the thin armor of the AT-STs like wet tissue paper, demolishing their oversized heads.

The deflector equipped tanks were tougher, but their small generators couldn't hold for long. With two shots the shields were down allowing the third shot from each pistol to strike their respective targets' main turret and power supply.

With the site cleared Yzak landed, but he couldn't stay still. Having seen the mobile suit take out five assault vehicles in just a few seconds the Imperials were already responding. Yzak could make out more tanks and walkers moving to intercept as the nearest trooper squads turned to train their weapons, which ranged from everything from blaster rifles to E-Webs to ground mortars, on him.

Firing a quick CIWS burst into the nearest trooper formations; Yzak ignited the thrusters and nudged the repulsorlifts, launching the Nebula forward. Grabbing a beam saber he cut through a fourth AT-ST before using the CIWS to target several light land speeders. Another Saber tank came around the corner of the base and trained it's turret on the mobile suit, but the laser cannon blast was blocked by the shield before Yzak used two rail guns and a pistol to retaliate and destroy it.

Now the TIEs were interested in him and it looked like they had all been launched. They shot away from the base and maneuvered to circle back to do a strafing run against him. But before Yzak could get boxed in the Rebel starfighters arrived.

The Y-wings used their ground assault targeting packages to strafe the ground with their laser and ion cannons, obliterating the Imperial fortifications, concentrating their attack along the roads running to the garrison, the only approach avenues clear of mines and the route the ground forces would take. Z-95s and X-wings fired their lasers into the crowd of TIEs, forcing the Imperial starfighters to scatter and regroup. While the Imperial pilots were disoriented and adjusting to the situation the Rebel pilots sought to press their advantage, using their fighters' superior atmospheric mobility to get behind the TIEs into what's known as the kill zone.

At this point the garrison's cannons had opened fire upon the rebel starfighters, but aiming was difficult as it had to avoid the TIEs in the melee. The Y-wings countered by firing proton torpedoes, lasers, and ion cannon blasts at the shielded base. Fiery explosions bounced off the base as the garrison's power manager diverted more energy to the shields.

Without having to pay so much attention to the sky Yzak turned his focus on an AT-AT, the massive walker was at a side profile to the Nebula, presenting an irresistible target. Yzak fired the rail guns but to his surprise the rounds didn't penetrate. They left dents and it looked like the cow-like walker was about to tip over if the operator hadn't readjusted the legs. The assault transport ponderously turned to attack the Nebula, but even with its articulated neck it was far too slow. In the time it took to turn enough to aim the Nebula had crossed the distance and sliced off its head with a beam saber.

A sudden alert was all the warning Yzak had to bring up the shield before heavy lasers struck him. Three more AT-ATs had come around the corner and doing their best to pin the Nebula. And Yzak could see why as several AT-STs, 2-Ms, TIE ap-1s, and other ground vehicles his computer didn't immediately recognize moved to surround him. On his own this was an extremely tight situation.

"Need a hand?" Fortunately he wasn't alone, and the Imperials learned that the hard way as green energy beams rained down on them. Not missing a beat Yzak jumped the Nebula up and over the AT-ATs and from behind immediately set to work cutting the hind legs off the metal beasts. Now unbalanced the back heavy walkers fell into uselessness, right before Yzak sliced off their heads.

He finally took the time to look up to see Dearka and the Solar, with DRAGOONs buzzing about as they shifted from one target to the next. Yzak noted that the DRAGOONs were much slower under the effects of gravity and fired fewer shots before returning to the Solar to recharge. Coming up behind the Solar was the Sundered Heart, its turbolasers pounding on the base's shields.

Between the Y-wings and the Corellian Corvette it was too much and the shields finally collapsed. The Sundered Heart then targeted the lasers and communications tower, destroying them all in quick succession.

By this point the ground forces had arrived. T-2B repulsorlift tanks led the charge with foot soldiers right behind. With most of the heavy vehicles out of the way the ray-shielded tanks made short work of the light repulsorlift vehicles that had stayed out of the mobile suit's way. Though there were still a few dozen scattered across the field they did not last long, especially after the Solar and Sundered Heart turned their weapons on them. Many were destroyed, while the smart (or at least more cowardly) pilots went for the hills.

Yzak turned his attention to the sky, flying up to join the fray. It was mostly over up there. Because of their solar panels TIEs have quite a bit of trouble with wind resistance when yawing or rolling or basically any maneuver that is not forward, back, up, or down. And with the various ECM devices in effect, fouling up their targeting computers, the TIE pilots were just unprepared to deal with ships that beat them in maneuverability, had effective ECCM for the N-Jammers, and were protected by shields.

Still four Z-95s and a Y-wing had been lost. But losses were expected in any military operation and these were well within the range of acceptable casualties.

"Good work men," said Antillies. "Now we need to break down the death fence and breach the doors."

"I'm on it," said Dearka, moving the Solar to stand several dozen meters before the main entrance. The Solar combined its two beam rifles into a heavy beam cannon that unleashed a powerful red, white, and blue beam of highly charged particles. The beam tore through the death fence and the thick doors that guarded the entrance, and probably destroyed anything that was set up behind the doors as a nasty surprise.

"Good, now I want four Headhunters to fly into the hangar bays. Use your cannons if needed, but wait for the shuttle to bring up troops. We'll hit them from both ends."

With three-fourths of the rebel troops preparing to invade the garrison, the remaining one-fourth was tasked with taking the freighters, accompanied by the mobile suits and the rest of the Headhunters, to the manufacturing district on the edge of the capital city that was fifty kilometers north-west of the garrison base. Between the three Imperial controlled factories they could expect to encounter local security forces and at least one company of soldiers, 2 AT-STs, and 6 light ground combat vehicles that had been placed there by the garrison for quick response defense.

Lacking air support or any heavy weapons the defenses quickly fell to the Rebel forces, though several troopers were lost.

Once it was safe the freighters were set down by the various warehouses. With their current configuration the Gallofree medium transports could hold up to 17,000 metric tons of cargo for a total of 68,000 tons between them. The total weight of the refined durasteel, quandanium steel and finished spaceship parts equaled to a little over forty thousand. Since there was room to spare the accompanying engineers and support personnel worked to load any and all pieces of equipment they could carry, which was substantial with the mobile suits aiding in the heavy lifting that couldn't be done with the repulsorlift sleds.

Overall the operation to clean out the warehouses took about 3 hours. During that time they found a real prize in the Sienar Fleet Systems facility in the form of four GAT-12/h Skipray blastboats. The management of the facility must have been seeking to expand their production capabilities and constructed the ships to prove that they could handle full ship production and not just parts assembly. They were fully functional and only lacked coordinates in their navigation computers and munitions in their missile launchers. Fortunately there were men among the troops that had the training necessary to pilot the ships back to the rebel base.

By that point it was time to return to the garrison where the majority of the assault force waited. The fighting to take control of the garrison had been fierce but there had been far more Imperial casualties than Rebel since most of the 2,000 personnel who remained in the base were command and support personnel. Many of them survived since they remained on the command floor on level six while the Rebels only sought to control levels 1-4, 7, and 8. Levels 1-4 gave them access to the armory, which was raided, the motor pool, which was raided for parts, and the detention cells, where they released the prisoners, a number of whom were active rebel sympathizers, to cause future headaches for the on-world Imperials. Level 7 was where the hangars were located where the Rebels found two Sentinel-class troop transports and a Lambda-class shuttle.

These gems were added to the Rebels pool of loot as spare pilots were transferred from the Sundered Heart to fly the transports in formation with the rest of the rebel battle group. The mobile suits surprised some of the Rebels when they took positions directly on top of a freighter, one each, both kneeling on one leg to stabilize their stance as a turret. The pilots stated a desire to conserve fuel and the freighters had more than enough power for the additional weight.

With everything they came for gathered and the SpecForce unit safely digging themselves a nice hideaway in the city the Rebel force was ready to leave the planet.

As the ships broke through the atmosphere Antilles felt it was appropriate to address the troops.

"Good work everyone," he said over their comm. frequency. "Today we struck a significant blow to the Empire. While our efforts today may seem insignificant to the uninformed, a bug bite on a colossus, in the grand scheme our actions were significant. Because today was just a precursor of what is to come. The Imperials couldn't stop us today, nor will they the next time. And with each victory like today's the Alliance draws closer to our ultimate goal of overthrowing the corrupt system that is the Empire."

Antilles ended on that note. Giving speeches was not really his thing but after having served Bail Organa for so long he had picked up a thing or two and thought that he put what he learned to good use there.

Suddenly alarms started blaring. "Captain!" called one of the officers on sensor duty, his tone controlled yet urgent. "Two ships have jumped into Milvayne's gravitational shadow!"

"Jam any transmissions. What's their configuration and position?"

"One _Vindicator_ heavy cruiser and one _Imperial II_ frigate at 162 Port, 43 down. They are not on a direct path with us but could intercept us before we reach the primary outbound hyperspace jump coordinates."

"We are being hailed by the Imperial vessels," said the communications officer. "Currently it can't break through our jamming but I would wager it says to surrender or be destroyed."

"Imperial vessels have altered their trajectory. They are now on a direct intercept course with us on our current vector."

Antilles considered how they could be here. He quickly discounted a distress call unless that garrison had more equipment than anticipated. No, with that _Imperial II_ frigate it's more likely that they had come to pick up cargo and the Rebels had had the misfortune of selecting a time table that would intersect with theirs. So it was just bad luck.

"TIEs are deploying, 3 squadrons from the _Vindicator_ and 1 from the _Imperial_."

Not their full complement but under normal circumstances more than enough. The Rebel's own starfighters were drawing close to half their fuel. Another protracted dogfight could lower their fuel levels enough to make it impossible for them to get back to base. And they were outnumbered 2 to 1 with capital ship support that could tear through the _Sundered Heart_ and the freighters like wet tissue. Normally they would need at least of squadron of Ace pilots in X-wings to get out of this. But they will have to make due with two Aces in Gundams supported by a motley group of starfighters whose pilots had high moral.

Antilles opened up a communication line to all ships, but his words were directed to just two. "Nebula, Solar, how does the situation look to you?"

"Let's see," began Yzak, his voice calm and speculative. "Forty-eight mobile armors with another potential 72 waiting in the wings with two big lumbering ships for support against two Gundams piloted by ZAFT Reds…"

"I'm a former Red," Dearka interjected.

"With our own support of 20 mobile armors and a smaller yet faster ship." There was a brief pause. "I like those odds."

"We have faced worse," added Dearka.

Since this was over an open communications line everyone in the small Rebel force heard these declarations and it honestly confused them. They had seen the effectiveness of the machines back on the planet but the Rebels believed that this situation would be too much.

Antilles and Winter were the only ones who did not share this belief, Antilles because he had personally witnessed what these two men could do in inferior machines, and Winter because she had been informed about how while on paper a Coordinator in a mobile suit was equal to 5 Naturals in mobile armors, in real life the difference in power could be as great as 1 to 100. She had also read the reports about the battles from the Bloody Valentine where Coordinator piloted mobile suits, particularly the units called Gundams, had obliterated vastly numerically superior enemies without suffering a single casualty.

"Very well," said Antilles, "any suggestions on how we shall support you?"

"Activate all N-Jammers, use the _Sundered Heart_ to protect the freighters, let Dearka and I go first to break their formation. We'll draw their attention and when that happens have the starfighters come in. X and Z's are to follow me while the Y's fly with Solar."

Antilles followed the recommendation. The N-jammers he would have activated anyway. He then ordered all fighters to form a screen for the freighters alongside his own ship. He also discreetly ordered his pilot to prep a secondary vector that could be used to escape if needed.

After the few seconds it took to prepare everything had passed the two mobile suits stood atop their individual freighters and took off; it wasn't as effective as a linear catapult but the freighters' momentum did aid their acceleration. In another few seconds the Gundams were ahead of the leading Rebels fighters and were on a direct head to head course with the enemy TIEs. There was little fear of the Imperial capital ships opening fire yet as the distance was too great for them to be accurate and the space was too congested with their TIEs to target such a low number of smaller targets.

That was just fine with the Coordinators as they closed the distance to the TIEs.

"Ready Dearka," asked Yzak as the Nebula's railguns and pistols were deployed, the range to fire drawing ever closer.

"Oh yeah," smirked Dearka, drawing on his personality from the First Bloody Valentine. Red targeting reticules dotted his monitor as the DRAGOONs deployed once more. "Kira, eat your heart out."

The range to fire meter hit zero with a warning tone and in response the two Coordinators fired just about everything they had. The Nebula fired its rail guns and beam pistols, the Solar fired everything except his remaining missiles. Fiery explosions blossomed in the TIEs' formation as over a squadron's worth of TIE fighters were destroyed. The TIE pilots near the explosions reflexively pulled away, temporarily breaking their formation before reforming to cover the newly formed gap. TIE pilots were trained in a manner that they accepted the loss of comrades easily. They were trained to turn their fear into aggression and direct it at the enemy.

With bloodlust coloring their eyes the TIE pilots opened fire with their laser cannons on the Rebel machines. With precision that only a few non-genetically altered humans and aliens could mimic the two Coordinators weaved through the laser fire and charged straight into the swarm of TIEs where they halted their forward momentum. Seeing the mobile suits as the biggest threat at the moment the TIEs swooped and swerved to surround the enemy, creating a twister of identical starfighters. Though the Coordinators didn't know it they were entrapped in one of the most effective TIE combat formations, the Force Multiple Orbit formation, or Atom where TIEs use their superior speed and mobility to fly crisscrossing orbits at staggered distances around the target giving the impression of an atom with multiple electrons.

To an inferior number of starfighters or any ship that had limited possible firing solutions it was a deadly formation, but the Solar and Nebula were well suited to quickly altering the angle of attack, rendering some of the formations advantage null. The Coordinators made it doubly hard for the TIEs by staying back to back, preventing attacks to their most vulnerable spot.

Dearka was particularly deadly as his DRAGOON pods constantly changed their position in a bid to acquire a new target. More than half the beams didn't hit and were mostly to keep TIEs at bay for the second part of the plan. "Is it me," began Dearka, "or are more TIEs being deployed?"

Yzak had already seen what Dearka was referring too. The capital ships had deployed their remaining starfighters, another 4 squadrons' worth, while at the same time were moving into position to go around their TIEs and attack the Rebel freighters. "It won't matter in 3…2…1…"

Red laser fire entered the twister of TIEs, knocking out over a squadron, thanks to the efforts of the Rebel starfighter squadrons who had left their post guarding the freighters to attack the distracted TIEs. With their numbers reduced to almost nothing Dearka used his Dragoons to finish up the last in less than 10 seconds.

"Alright," said Yzak, "everyone line up on your mobile suit." The X-wings and Z-95's formed up behind the Nebula which accelerated to intercept the second group of TIEs while the Y's followed the Solar to intercept the _Vindicator_. "You may fire when ready."

All of the Rebel starfighters were, in space, slower and less maneuverable than a TIE fighter. Z-95's and Y-wings had a further disadvantage in that they have weaker laser cannons. But there were two things that gave them and edge. The first was shields, the second was missiles.

A barrage of missiles was launched from the starfighters when they were in range. Six proton torpedoes and nine concussion missiles hit the formation of TIEs, blowing away more than a squadron as ten torpedoes from the Y-wings, plus the Solar's six, hit the _Vindicator_, more than enough to bring down the shields and cause massive damage to the armor underneath. The Y-wings followed with a barrage of ion cannon fire to disable the ship as the Solar struck the weapon emplacements that were firing on the starfighters in an attempt to drive them off.

With the TIEs reeling from the first blow they were unprepared when they found the Nebula in their midst, using a solid sword to crush the fragile starfighters it chased down while shooting others with a beam pistol. Their numbers were further reduced by the Rebel starfighters that met them in a head to head clash, favorable for the Rebels because of their shields. The Imperials lost 7 fighters to one additional loss of a Z-95, without counting the losses being racked up by the Nebula.

As these two groups duked it out the _Sundered Heart_ had entered a slugging match with the _Imperial II_ frigate. While far less heavily armed than the _Vindicator_, it was normally still more of a match to any model of Corellian Corvette in a one on one fight, but the _Sundered Heart_ wasn't alone. The four captured Skiprays were brought in to join the assault and while lacking their missile ordnance their heavy lasers and ion cannons proved to be a game changer on this front. The frigate's plight was further exasperated when the remaining 8 Headhunters were sent by Yzak to aid in the assault, his Nebula and the X-wings more than enough to finish the last 12 TIEs.

Though the Rebels had been caught completely by surprised by a force that outnumbered and outgunned them, they had maintained control of the situation up to the point when all of the TIEs were destroyed and escape pods were launched from the two capitals thanks to the N-Jammers and mobile suits.

Dearka and Yzak had both been adamant to take the ships as prizes (making the score "2-1" as Dearka put it), and they had delivered the same ultimatum Dearka gave the _Tartan_. It had been another several hours' worth of work to ensure the ships were still functional enough to make a jump through hyperspace (everyone had been careful to avoid the bridge, engines, and power plant), making sure they were clear of any remaining Imperials (there were a handful that claimed they wanted to defect), and prepping them for the trip. Antilles had to use the entire primary and secondary officers go to pilot the ships while he himself took the helm of the _Sundered Heart_, the largest ship that could be piloted with one person.

By the end of it the Rebel soldiers were starting to get tired from the delayed time schedule. The fighters had been kept out in space on standby in case there was more trouble, thankfully there wasn't, and the pilots were exhausted and their ships were running low on fuel. Fortunately they were able to use the captured Imperial ships as carriers, which gave the pilots a chance to relax aboard large ships that had at least semi-decent R&R equipment.

Even Yzak and Dearka took a place aboard the _Vindicator_, but even when the ship entered hyperspace they didn't relax. They were actually tenser now than the start of the mission. Though the attack had been a success, a greater success than anticipated, to them it was the less important of two objectives. And now that they didn't have the mission to occupy their minds they couldn't help but worry about how well the prison break was going.

()()()()()()()()()

**Author's Notes:** Kira's speech in the first scene may make it sound like the Alliance hasn't been doing much, but they have. They just haven't been able to engage the Empire's military on a level playing field. Now that is just my own determination of the Alliance's strength based on my knowledge of Star Wars history, but there is a lot of contradicting material. Generally with Star Wars I consider the hierarchy of canon to be Movies-Books-Video Games with comic books floating somewhere between books and video games depending on content. There are some exceptions such as Knights of the Old Republic which is equal to the novels. So if I rely on canon information that is the order I rely on. But since this is fanfiction I can throw anything I deem fit for the story in there. Such as the _Tartan_-class which is one of my favorite ships but only appears in Star Wars: Empire At War. And if anyone wants to learn about the _Vindicator_ and _Imperial II_ frigate check them out on wookiepedia. As far as I know the _Vindicator_ has only appeared in a video game and the _Imperial II_ frigate in a comic book that starred Biggs Darklighter but I liked them so I included them.

By the way, the Battle of Milvayne does appear to be a canon event, or at least the Alliance's intent to attack it was. For whatever reason, a few months before the Battle of Yavin Mon Mothma decided that it would be a good target to attack, but the sources I looked over never gave a reason why aside from how that garrison was the key for the Empire's control of the Gyrica system. Anyway what made that event (whether it happened or not) significant was that Garm Bel Ilbis disagreed with Mon Mothma's decision as he believed the planet had an Ubiqtorate base so the planet would be much more heavily guarded than what Mon anticipated. Now, while he was alive Bail supported Mon Mothma so Garm's actions were limited, but after Bail's death Mon Mothma gave the order to attack and Garm felt that she was overstepping her boundaries. Long story short the quarrel escalated to the point that Garm and those loyal to him split from the Alliance to form their own splinter group to continue fighting the Empire and step forward in the event Mon Mothma established herself as "Empress in all but name."

Part of the reason I chose Milvayne is that by accelerating the time of the battle that could prevent Garm from splitting from the Alliance. Additionally there is no information on the battle itself (that I can find) so that leaves me free to make it as I wish.

**Lochacca** – This is an OC character I decided to create for the prison break. His crew, the Void Wings, is apparently a semi-canon group established by the role-playing games, however there is no information on them aside from their name and the time period they operated, giving me free reign to shape them as I see fit. At the moment Lochacca is a minor OC character that is being used for the prison break. I don't really have any plans to use him afterward except mention that he continues pirating as a privateer in service to the Alliance.


End file.
